Innocence Lost
by kathryn518
Summary: Presented with an opportunity, Vernon jumps at the chance to get rid of the unwanted burden foisted upon his normal family. In the hands of those wanting to create a true weapon, Harry's entire life is altered, sending not just his destiny but those of several others down a different path. But when your fate is to be a weapon, can that ever truly change?
1. Forging a Weapon

**Innocence Lost**

 **~Chapter 1~**

 **Forging a Weapon**

Vernon was torn between sweating bullets as he stared at the man in front of him, and building rage inside of him. The man was blond, clean-shaven and smiling. He was younger than Vernon, an age Vernon guessed to be mid to late twenties, though it was difficult to determine. He was dressed in a suit that even Vernon could identify as being more expensive than his new car. He was clearly rich and moved formally.

There was also an edge to him that implied that he was dangerous by his very nature.

Though that might also have been attributed to the fact that he was accompanied by two men in military uniforms. Both of those men were over six feet tall, if Vernon had to guess they were 6'4 or 6'5, they looked like they had been built or constructed rather than picked since they were the same size and same dimensions.

They were dressed in a camouflage military uniform that Vernon could not identify. They both hadn't spoken a word since they entered his house, and they had just stood rigidly in parade rest at the entrance to the room.

Of course, none of that was what had Vernon Dursley sweating. This was the same man who in another life would yell at a half-giant nearly twice his size, who'd just finished bending the metal of a gun like it was nothing.

So it was hardly surprising that the physicality of the men weren't intimidating him.

It was the first thing the man had said when Vernon had answered the knock on Number 4 Privet Drive, "Mr. Vernon Dursley? My name is Dr. Zander Rice. I would like to speak to you about a young man, apparently in your care. One...'Harry Potter'?"

Vernon scowled as he looked at the man sitting rigidly on his wife's couch. Petunia was out at the time, with their son at the park, and then a stop at the store. He doubted Petunia would make it out of the store without getting Dudley a toy or two which always took a while. Dudley was five years old and a precocious youngster, a right old chip off the block.

He was nervous that the man was military, and wondered what possibly could have happened to get him in trouble with the military. And he was _definitely_ angry and would be sure to take it out on the boy once the man had gone.

"What did the little freak do now?" Vernon demanded finally.

Dr. Rice's jaw twitched slightly, too small for Vernon to notice, but the man showed no other reaction. "Well, from several reports we've read, we have noticed several… unusual things happening around him."

Vernon's face set into a deeper scowl, "I'm not sure what you're talking about." He blustered defensively.

Instead of getting upset, the man, definitely not a British native, smiled faintly and reached a hand upward. One of the military man slid a folder into the man's hand and moved back into a form of parade rest behind the man.

Zander Rice seemed to think nothing of it as he opened the folder and began to read. "There was an instance of the boy turning his teacher's hair blue."

Vernon opened his mouth to reply but Zander kept reading, seemingly heedless of the fact that the overweight man intended to speak. "Then the instance that somehow, despite his diminutive size and no known physical access point, he ended up on the roof of the school. Claimed the wind might have lifted him?"

Vernon started to turn purple and his upper lip started to twitch with how furiously he was scowling, whether at the reports that he remembered vividly or at the open amusement in the man's voice.

"Finally there is this, which brought it to our attention." The man turned the folder around and slid it across the coffee table to Vernon.

Vernon looked down, and squinted his beady eyes at two pictures which were face up on the folder.

In one picture was a gruesome picture of a small pale arm. It was clearly broken, as part of the bone was visibly deforming the skin in a pointed lump. In the second picture, the arm was bruised, but clearly no longer broken.

Vernon looked back and forth between the two pictures. He wasn't an expert but even he was able to tell what he was looking at. He finally looked away from the pictures and up at the doctor with an expectant expression.

Zander sighed, clearly knowing that this obese man in front of him was not comprehending. "The pictures were taken by the nurse at the school the boy attends. Apparently after an altercation between this boy and your son as well as several of his friends. It left him injured…"

Vernon sat forward, where a normal man would have been on his feet in outrage, he didn't quite get the momentum in that bulk, but he was still immediately protesting, "It was not my son's fault. That freak and his freaky ways always causing problems, getting into trouble. I will not have my son blamed for him tripping or running into so-"

Zander Rice raised his hands in a placating manner, "Sir… sir. I am in no way blaming your son."

That seemed to calm Vernon somewhat, at least enough to let the man continue.

Dr. Zander Rice spoke calmly. "I know this wasn't your son's fault. In fact… I am certain you're right. It is the fault of the… boy you're forced to deal with. I'm going to guess that those aren't the only signs of… _freakishness_ you've seen."

Vernon relaxed at the tone the man he was dealing with. Clearly this man at least understood some of the challenges of dealing with the unwanted burden. He also seemed to at least share similar beliefs.

"As a matter of fact, that's why I am here." The doctor smiled genuinely, now that he understood the man he felt confident in getting what he wanted out of him.

"What do you mean?" Vernon asked cautiously.

"Well, first, would you mind a possibly… personal question?" The man asked, his expression one of encouragement and a slightly conspiratorial tone.

Vernon hesitated and then nodded slowly. Normally he would have said no, but the man was polite, and seemed to be someone that Vernon could share his opinions with. Something that he had no one else to do so. His wife refused to talk about anything remotely regarding freakishness, so it left Vernon somewhat out of the loop.

"Where did the boy come from?" Zander asked politely. "I noted he did not share your same surname, and a bit of research showed that there was no adoption or fostering of the boy. In fact, we were unable to find anything regarding his guardianship at all."

Indeed an in-depth study revealed nothing at all about the boy, Petunia Dursley hadn't had another pregnancy, and there were no birth records on file matching Harry Potter with the right age and gender range who weren't one hundred percent accounted for.

Vernon regarded the man suspiciously for several long seconds, looking for any hint of accusation before seeming to nod a little bit. "That's because there wasn't anything like that"

"What do you mean?" the doctor asked carefully.

"I mean…" Vernon said taking a deep breath, and the volume of his voice dropped but the tone got more intense. "That his freak kind just dropped him off with us when he was a baby."

"Oh really?" Zander asked, leaning forward, listening intently.

Emboldened by his audience Vernon nodded, his voice rising slightly with a tinge of relief. "Apparently his parents got themselves blown up! And then their _kind_ just... dumped him on our doorstep without so much as a 'by your leave'!"

"When was this?" Zander asked, with his eyes narrowed in thought.

"It was… November a few years ago…" Vernon replied, thinking back.

"And when did the… weird or freakish events start happening?" Martin followed up asking intently.

"Ever since he got here things have been happening! Freakish things! Things move without warning, things shorting out, odd noises!" Vernon clenched his fists angrily as he recalled anything odd happening. "All while we have to pay to care for the problems his wastrel parents dumped on us!"

He was breathing heavily as he said that before taking a breath and sitting back.

"Well, I think it's safe to say you do not want him here." Zander observed, careful to keep his own tone one of commiseration.

"What other choice do we have?" Vernon griped.

The doctor smiled beneficently and spread his hands slightly. "What if I told you that I am here to offer to take him off your hands?"

Vernon, who had been relaxing sat forward once more, looking intent. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said." Zander said with that same smile. "I mean that we are happy to take the boy away from here never to bother you or your family again."

Vernon briefly looked pleased before his suspicious side reared its head. "What's the catch? What's in it for you?"

"No catch." The doctor answered before his expression turned almost commiserating. "I just happen to think that good, upstanding _normal_ families, should not be expected to care for someone displaying such… freakishness."

Vernon let out a great sigh of relief, clearly here was a man who _understood!_

"Of course, we'd also compensate you…" Zander said pausing before continuing to sweeten the pot, "To make up for the years of dealing with the boy."

For a moment the greed flashed in Vernon's eyes the idea of getting rid of the boy as well as getting money for it. Before reality reared its ugly head.

"Even if I wanted to, it wouldn't work." Vernon said dejectedly.

"Why not?" Zander asked, once more looking intently. "You think your wife would object?"

"Not on her own! Not... Petunia is quite reasonable. I'm sure she'd be just as happy to be rid of him as I am. It's others of his _freak_ kind would know he's gone. They would find you and him, take him back and make us take him in again." Vernon growled, once more clenching his hands.

The doctor considered that for a moment before a slow smile spread on his face. "We know just how to deal with… freaks. Trust me when I say they won't ever find him."

Vernon looked up at the honesty and surety in that tone, and slowly began to smile. "Just how much compensation are we talking about here?"

 **OoooooooooOooooooooooO**

Doctor Zander Rice stepped out of Number Four Privet Drive, and walked to the non- descript SUV. The two members of private security he had brought with him walked out in front of him. Between them was a small boy, no more than five years old walked between the two much larger men.

He wasn't much surprised at how unresisting the boy was. Though he was surprised at how blatantly the people were able to get away with the abuse hinted at and seen with his own eyes. More than one report of abuse had seemingly disappeared into bureaucratic miasma.

He slid into the back seat of the SUV, practically ignoring the small boy not far from him that was looking around curiously. He opened a satellite phone. When the other end picked up, he didn't bother with a greeting. "This is Rice."

The male voice that Zander knew to be Martin Sutter, his surrogate father, on the other end of the phone spoke rather loudly over the connection, "Were you successful?"

There was a pause, before he continued. "Yes, I picked up the target."

"Good, that was a good find Zander. Was there any trouble?"

"Not trouble… per se." Zander replied. "The family was incredibly helpful, just wanted him out of the house. Only took twenty thousand pounds to take possession without complaint."

"What happened to cause trouble then?" The man's voice asked.

"As I reported yesterday the subject is far younger than we initially presumed. That was not an exaggeration. He is five years old. And his powers have apparently been present for years." Zander answered.

"Five years old and we have confirmation that his mutation has manifested already? Most… unusual. Did you get any specifics on the mutation?" Martin Sutter responded.

"Enhanced Regeneration is confirmed." Zander replied, excitement clearly in his voice.

"That's fantastic. Anything else of note?" The voice replied.

"Nothing concrete yet. Possible enhanced physical characteristics granting impressive leaping ability or something of that nature. There's also something else that I have yet to classify." Zander admitted.

"What's that?" Martin's voice was curious over the connection.

"He supposedly turned his teacher's hair blue." Zander responded dryly.

Harry turned to look at him sharply and inched away from him, clearly knowing that he was being talked about.

Zander shook his head slightly at the boy, scowling slightly. Harry got the message and looked away.

"You're sure it wasn't a prank or something?" Martin asked his surrogate son.

"No. I have no idea if it was or not." Zander replied.

"Well, we'll figure it out one way or another." Martin replied "Anything else to report?"

"Yeah… it turns out Petunia Dursley, maiden name Evans, was biological aunt to the boy. At least according to the relatives. And he was literally just dumped on their doorstep. They mentioned several times that her sister and her sister's husband were 'freaks' as well and got themselves blown up."

"A second generation mutation? Not just that… but on both sides? That's… wow. I don't know that we've had that before." Martin replied, this time sounding excited over the phone

"Me neither." Zander replied, before his brow furrowed. "I need you to see if we can find anything about his parents. We should probably know what happened there."

"Did you get any information for that?" Martin asked.

"Not much." Zander admitted, "Their names were James and Lily. They supposedly shared the same surname as the boy, and according to the aunt and uncle got themselves blown up. Though most of that information was sketchy at best."

"Interesting…" Martin mused. "I will put someone on tracking anything and everything we might be able to find on them down. If he is a second generation mutation I think it would be best to have a better idea of what happened, beyond some middle manager's say so."

"Understood." Zander said, responding to the authority in the Doctor's voice.

There was a pause, before Martin asked, "Anything else?"

Zander paused before responding "One thing of note. The guardians were also worried they were being watched by other 'freaks'. Though they couldn't say how or give examples. I'm uncertain if it was paranoia or legitimate."

"A mutant organization watching an extremely young mutant? We'll have to see if we can track any rumors of that down." Martin replied, his tone intense.

"That just makes our work more important. Have the lab ready when we get there. We'll want to begin immediately." Zander stated. "With any luck he'll be the perfect candidate and we will be able to proceed forward with him, and won't have any more use for Kinney's little pet."

Zander couldn't keep all the disgust and dismissiveness out of his voice when referring to that experiment. He hated the idea of using it, every part of using that little monster. He hated that it was a genetic offspring or sibling of the animal that murdered his father. He hated that it was female, and that it had been Sarah Kinney's suggestion to go that route. He hated that though only an infant it was working at least a little bit.

"Maybe." Martin said, his voice noncommittal before the call disconnected.

Zander nodded and hung up the phone, gesturing for the driver, "To the airport. I want out of here as soon as humanly possible."

"Yes Sir." the voice said as the car drove off from Privet Drive.

Harry Potter watched as he drove away from Privet Drive for the last time, glad to leave the only home he could remember. He had come in from working at weeding the back to his uncle talking to several large men. He had simply been told that he was going away with the men.

Harry knew better than to question, and though he felt trepidation he knew that running away would just make it worse when he got back.

He didn't even get to grab his blanket or toy soldiers from under the stairs before he was lead out the door. He had no fond memories of the house so it wasn't something that he was going to be missing any time soon. Even years later, after many other things had occurred in his life, he would never look back on his time at Privet Drive as anything more than miserable.

 **OoooooooooOooooooooooO**

Martin Sutter slipped into a white lab coat as he stepped into the lab. He was most curious to see their new acquisition, the one his adopted son picked up from England. He glanced around, noting that there were several technicians gathered around, but there were two people clearly directing them.

He looked into the center and strapped to the table was the dark haired child Zander had picked up. The boy being strapped down was mostly a formality. The scientists weren't doing anything extreme or intrusive at the moment.

They had just put him through the basic scans. They were beginning blood work and deeper analysis.

"Well, what can you tell me?" he demanded of the two people who were clearly taking charge of the process.

"Initial scans were… interesting." spoke Zander. The blonde male was the son of one of Martin's old partners, and had been the one who had unearthed this boy in one of his in depth searches of anything odd or unexplainable, no matter how obscure.

The dark-haired woman, Dr. Sarah Kinney spoke up. "Other than slight signs of malnourishment, the boy is in good health, with two notable exceptions."

Her voice was speculative as she glanced between the report on the monitor she was particularly focused on, and the boy in the center of the room.

"Oh?" Martin looked at her.

"His eyes, his eyesight is relatively poor, though that might have been exacerbated by the poorly matched glasses he was wearing upon arrival." Sarah explained.

"And the other?" Martin asked, the thought that the boy needed glasses was not a good indication for the things they needed.

"There is an odd scar on his forehead. It is the only physical blemish we noted on his entire body."

Zander grunted as he looked at the same monitor, he had noted that on the way over, and wondered if the regeneration the boy displayed hadn't gotten to the scar because it was there before power activation or for some other reason.

"On the other hand his bio-scans were very interesting, his body possesses some sort of... energy for lack of a better word, energy we haven't seen before, though I do not know how to characterize and it didn't seem to be doing anything." Zander spoke up. "I should also note that there is an intense concentration of that energy at the site of the scar."

"What are we hoping to get out of studying the boy?" Martin asked.

"I don't want to put all of our eggs into one basket." Zander said, studying the boy through the glass intently.

Martin nodded with a glance at Sarah. "We may be able to use him for some more experimental processes, smooth out some of the problems before we use them on X-23."

A brief look of anger crossed Zander's face, before it flitted away, Sarah didn't react to that, looking thoughtful.

"I want to know everything we can about this boy and his mutation, before we start doing anything." Martin said before glancing at his watch. "I have a meeting. I'll leave it in your hands."

He departed the lab after getting nods from both of his top doctors.

Zander Rice and Sarah Kinney were left to stare into the room with the boy. Silence descended as Sarah busied herself with beginning to examine the scans and look at the preliminary readout of the blood work.

"Well, it looks like we have another specimen to play with." Zander spoke up. His voice mild but watching Sarah's response out of the corner of his eye to see her reaction.

When she didn't give one, he scowled slightly. Finally turning away from the boy, he passed her, patting her on the shoulder lightly. "Look at it this way Doctor Kinney. Look at it this way, at least you didn't have to go through nine months of torture for this guinea pig." His voice lightened to just enough to be understood as a taunt.

He left the room too after failing to provoke a reaction from her with that comment.

When he left, Sarah closed her eyes for several seconds before staring into the lab at the unaware boy. "You poor child." She murmured quietly.

 **OoooooooooOooooooooooO**

"So… wait. He's _not_ a mutant?" Martin looked up from the report in the information device in front of him.

Sarah Kinney and Zander Rice both were sitting across from him with similar expressions on their faces.

It was Sarah that spoke up. "I have had the blood redrawn and retested half a dozen times. His blood work while… not normal, shows none of the genetic markers of the actual mutant gene."

"When you say… not normal?" Martin asked the geneticist leadingly.

Sarah grimaced slightly. "That same energy that shows up in our biological scans of the boy, show up again and again on every examination we use, all the way down on the genetic level."

"Showing up in what manner?" Martin asked.

"Based on how the samples we take have reacted to various chemicals, the energy seems to make the genes remarkably adaptable. But beyond that I've not encountered or read anything like it before. So I can't even begin to speculate." Sarah replied. "But I can say for certain that whatever it is, the boy is not a mutant."

The conversation broke off as Rachel, who worked as Martin's secretary, and was also the man's wife, despite the twenty or more year discrepancy between their ages. She brought in a mug of coffee and some papers for Martin, setting them down in front of him. "Thank you Rachel," Martin said with a smile as he picked his mug up and sipped it closing his eyes.

As Rachel left the room, Zander's eyes followed her, blatantly staring at her ass as she did. Something that Martin missed between his coffee and staring at the papers she had brought him. Sarah on the other hand just shot Zander a brief glare.

When Rachel shut the door behind her as she left, Martin sighed and slumped back in his chair, picking the topic back up, "So he's useless as a subject."

"Not… necessarily." Zander spoke up with a glance over at Sarah before looking back at Martin across the desk.

"Oh?" Martin asked, looking across at Zander with interest. Zander clearly had an idea and had something invested in this. Martin wasn't a fool, he did know that Zander would work hard to find alternatives to using the clone or spawn of the man who had killed his father.

Zander glanced once more at Sarah before meeting the eyes of his surrogate father. "We are not certain exactly _what_ his genes indicate. _Maybe_ he's not a mutant-"

Sarah opened her mouth to protest but Zander plowed forward cutting her off before she could interrupt fully. "Maybe he _is_ a mutant and we just haven't come across his like before."

"He is _not_ a mutant. His genes do not carry the common marker or any sort of active X-gene." Sarah protested.

"That may be true, but we have twice forced broken bones in the past week, under the guise of basic self-defense training that we've begun in the meantime, and both times the bones healed up in a matter of hours." Zander countered

"Yes, I read those reports. A regeneration ability that takes hours. Far _far_ slower than the amount of regeneration we're looking for." Martin challenged.

"However, like Dr. Kinney said, we have discovered that it seems like his genetics are _incredibly_ adaptable." Zander argued, excitement filling his voice. "So what I propose is we splice the gene samples we have, the same ones we used to create Dr. Kinney's pet, into his genome and see if his genetics adapt."

"To what end? Even a normal human's immune reaction, the body would have the strength to reject the gene samples." Sarah disagreed with a shake of her head, "To say nothing of a stronger immune reaction."

"So we subject him to radiation, suppressing the initial immune reaction," Zander replied. "A strong enough dose and his body likely won't manage to adapt to it."

"You could kill him." Sarah replied with some heat in her voice.

"Or his genetics could adapt." Zander riposted.

Martin rubbed a hand over his mouth in thought. "Have we seen any evidence of any of the other powers?" He asked after consideration.

"His physical strength is standard or substandard for your average five year old." Sarah answered.

"But his eye hand coordination and dexterity, are above the top percentile for humans. I would be willing to say those are superhuman, which is encouraging." Zander responded.

Silence fell as Martin appeared to be turning that over in his head.

Zander spoke up into the silence, offering further, "We may be able to try this approach with this specimen before it becomes necessary to try something similar on X-23 in the hopes of causing her mutation to emerge."

Martin looked up sharply at that and his expression turned much more speculative. "What you're proposing is more than that."

"Yes," Zander agreed, "I'm proposing we take advantage of this resource and see if it's possible. There is no guarantee that Sarah's idea works out, and this is another possibility. That energy inside of him makes him incredibly adaptable. I am all for taking advantage of it."

Zander could sense that he was getting somewhere with his argument by the thoughtful expression on Martin's face. "We use the original sample. The same one we used to create X-23. The Y chromosome on that sample was already damaged. But… this subject already provides that. The mutant gene in the blood samples we have is already active. If we can splice the two, we may have another subject at minimal cost and no wait."

Sarah's expression was blank but she shook her head to show her disagreement, "You could kill him." She reiterated.

Martin wasn't certain that the process was going to work and he wasn't certain it was a good idea. But he had thought the same thing about Sarah's proposal when she mentioned creating a female fetus. However that had worked out, and he certainly wasn't going to give his son the same opportunity.

"Proceed" Martin said after taking it into consideration.

 **OoooooooooOooooooooooO**

"And you will if you deserve it.-"

"'Really?' Pinocchio exclaimed. 'Tell me, what can I do to deserve it?'" Dr. Sarah Kinney read quietly. She was sitting in the relative darkness of the lab and it was very late. Or very early she amended as she looked at her watch. She was the only one present, but someone needed to keep an eye on the process they were putting the boy through.

God only knew that bastard Zander wasn't going to sit up and watch the products of his efforts, he would almost certainly believe it was beneath him.

At the moment the boy was unconscious, but he drifted in and out of consciousness and she felt that having someone here for him would make him feel better. And reading in this place had become a habit. It was something she did for her daughter, so it was easy to do it for this boy as well. And a part of her had hoped that her presence helped him find some comfort in this place.

"Urggh." A soft groan interrupted her story.

She set her book aside and moved up to the table where the boy remained strapped down. The boy with bleary green eyes, startlingly similar to her own looked up at her.

Sarah quickly moved over and checked the readouts on the computer next to the bed. "How are you feeling?" She asked quietly.

There was a very long pause as if the boy was deciding whether it would be a good idea to answer the question, "Sore. Tired. " The boy croaked as he tilted his head to stare at her, his eyes still bleary.

Sarah glanced again at those emerald eyes before returning her attention to the monitor briefly. She shifted back to him as she moved to stand over him, as she spoke kindly. "Go back to sleep… you'll feel better."

The boy clearly lost the battle to stay conscious as his eyes closed and his breathing turned regular once again. She reached up and brushed a bit of hair off his forehead as she looked down at him. "It'll be okay. Just hang in there."

She moved and sat back down on the chair, moving the chair a little closer to the table. She opened the book, hidden inside a larger book, hiding what she was actually reading to the child as had become her habit.

 **OoooooooooOooooooooooO**

"Update." Martin demanded with steepled fingers at the conference table.

"The procedure worked far better than we imagined or dared dream possible." Zander said, his voice betraying his excitement.

"Explain." Martin ordered immediately.

"The adaptability we saw from the specimen's blood, combined with the radiation and addition of the genes spliced from Weapon X has performed beyond all expectations in the specimen." Zander shook his head, amazement in his voice, "The body essentially adopted the genes and replicated them far faster than any previous example we have ever observed."

Zander turned in his seat and pointed to a monitor on the wall, "It's been three weeks, and the subject has shown every one of the documented physical changes of the spliced genes."

"All of them?" Martin asked, sitting forward, his eyes intent on Zander's.

"Yes. And not just copied them statically. While his senses seem to be enhanced to the same level, there's not a great way for us to measure that. Though we've already determined it completely negated any vision correction needed," Zander said, his tone hurried, clearly wanting to get to what he deemed the important information. "The regenerative capabilities he possessed are now seemingly even faster than the original. Though it's possible the adamantium laced with the original's skeleton inhibits the regeneration somewhat. We are uncertain on that fact."

A smile crossed his face. "But… the best part. Is this."

With a turn of his chair he flicked the large television they were looking at to display a skeletal scan that filled a large section of the wall. He stood up and pointed to one of the arms.

Martin stood up moving closer, his brow furrowing as he examined the scan. Sarah stood up as well but she didn't say anything.

"Are those what I think they are?" Martin said slowly as he examined the blow up on the monitor. There was disbelief in his voice.

"Yes, whatever that energy in his body is… caused it to adapt completely and fully throughout his entire cellular and physical structure. It also triggered the mutation to develop the claws." Zander said, unable to keep the gloating out of his voice. He was ecstatic and nearly dancing in place as he showed off his success.

"Fantastic Zander… that's… just fantastic." Martin's fingers traced over the monitor where extra bones in the forearms were highlighted. He couldn't keep the admiration and approval out of his voice. "What are the next steps?"

"Next?" Zander sounded surprised that it was even being asked, "He's everything we wanted. We can truly begin molding him into our weapon. We've started the basics with self-defense. But now we can really get into it. Combat training, strategy. Everything."

Martin nodded, "Proceed."

Sarah opened her mouth to protest but Martin had turned and departed before she could say anything.

Zander just smirked that same gloating smile at her before he too departed.

 **OoooooooooOooooooooooO**

"Are you insane?" demanded Sarah as she stared at Zander.

"Not at all." Zander replied dismissively.

"He's only eleven," She argued. "Like X-23 his quarters are being kept at higher temperatures to stimulate development. But he's only barely entered puberty. He has years more growing before he's fully developed."

"We may not be able to lace his bones with adamantium now. But the claws are another matter. Their growth can be retarded and still be effective." Zander replied, his tone cool.

"There's no need to do it this soon. Given that his x-gene is active, his claws will naturally mature faster than the rest of his skeleton." Sarah shook her head as her exasperated expression matched her tone. "You coat them in a metal now they won't grow or develop any more. There's no reason for this."

"'No reason.' Are you sure you just don't want to see either of your little _pets_ go under the knife?" Zander demanded derisively.

"Don't be stupid. The limited time I spend with both X-23 and Spare is necessary for development of basic social interaction. Your own psychologists have told you that. Repeatedly." She replied, rolling her eyes in disgust at the man.

Martin had decided on the name for the subject they picked up from Britain. It came from one of his offhand comments. At first the boy was just a spare, in case X-23 did not develop the way they hoped. But given the way the boy had developed, more and more of Zander's not to mention a large number of other's focused on Spare as he was the one likely to be functional as an asset first, simply because he was three years older than X-23.

"We're not talking about losing the claws. Just coating them with the adamantium earlier. A few inches aren't going to make that much difference in overall effectiveness." Zander argued.

"I wonder if that's what you tell yourself with any woman you've ever slept with." Sarah snapped back. She knew it was childish and petty but their relationship had gotten more and more antagonistic as the years past.

A moment of pure rage crossed Zander's face. Then briefly guilt then rage again.

A hand slammed on the table before he could retort. "That is _enough!"_ Martin growled staring down both staff members.

"I will make the final decision." He said slowly.

"You've made your case Dr. Kinney. Please give us some time to think it over." Martin said, clearly dismissing her.

Sarah's shoulders fell slightly, before she nodded and left the room. She was certain he had already made his decision.

"Bye now." Zander said in a smug and insufferable tone.

"Start laying the ground work for more intensive training. Get whatever experts you need in here for both of them. We move forward on coating the claws in Spare." Martin shook his head slightly, "We can wait on the bonding for X-23. But start working on ways to fully emerge the X-gene without risking inhibiting any of its potency in her. Right now she wouldn't survive the surgery for the claws, much less the full bonding process."

Zander nodded and then glanced at the closed door and the departed Dr. Kinney. "Why do we even keep Kinney involved? Both subjects are old enough now and I don't see why -"

"Control." Martin interrupted.

"You control the mother, you control the child. At this point both children see her as a mother figure of sorts. When we cut that connection by sending her away they will fall back on familiarity, becoming almost fanatically loyal to us. And...if all else fails… Dr. Kinney can be dealt with easily enough." Martin explained, his voice without inflection.

Zander smiled slightly as he considered that.

"Speaking of control, how's the progress coming on the trigger scent?" Martin asked.

"Better than expected." Zander said smugly.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

"It went perfectly." Zander stated proudly. "The extraction of the claws, the coating of them in adamantium, and the re-insertion of them. There were zero complications."

He didn't wait for the follow-up question from Martin, he simply gestured to a television showing a youth in a training room filled with dummies.

Half of the dummies were shredded to pieces and the youth was in the process of shredding more. From his hands emerged three sharp metal claws approximately 7 inches long.

"He's already familiar moving with the claws and has adjusted to their capabilities remarkably quickly."

"All right. Proceed with advanced training." Martin said. "Well done, I think this is a fantastic sign. Our backers will appreciate this."

Zander nodded in agreement, watching the demonstration with a strange blend of avarice and pride.

Sarah Kinney said nothing during the meeting, simply stared at the screen in thinly veiled disgust.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

"I think it's time to test Spare out in field conditions." Martin said quietly, in a meeting between just himself and Zander Rice.

"Really?" Zander asked, a trace of disbelief in his voice. "Are you sure he's ready?"

"You've read the reports yourself. Hell you've prepared half of them. He is consistently excelling in all of his training. He has adapted well to the metal on his claws." Martin responded.

"Yes, the results have been extremely positive." admitted Zander, with more than a trace of smugness in his voice. "I just worried it was a bit too soon."

"I agree, but those providing the funds need more than being able to survive the process and demonstrations against unmoving targets or people in tightly controlled conditions. We need to prove that we're producing effective weapons. X-23 may not be ready yet, but Spare is."

"What did you have in mind?" Zander asked, eager to prove that Spare could absolutely handle being the weapon they wanted and needed.

"A simple hunt and eliminate mission. Nothing too fancy. But it will get him blooded, and if performed well will please the backers." Martin replied, but his voice turned hard. "But only if you're certain he will succeed. If this is a failure it could cause many problems for us."

Zander straightened. "He will be successful. I have far more faith in Spare than X-23."

Martin didn't bother to respond, well aware of Zander's antipathy for the younger experiment when compared to her older male counterpart.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

"I understand it was a busy weekend." Martin smiled, straightening a picture of his wife and child on his desk before leaning back in his office chair.

"It was very exciting." Zander said, his voice gloating, with a glance over at Sarah whose expression he could tell was struggling to remain detached and not express her extreme discontent.

"I am all ears." Martin said.

"We put X-23 through the radiation treatment this weekend. It did exactly what I expected. Her mutant gene has fully emerged, regeneration, enhanced senses, and fully formed claws for her age. Though there was one unexpected development." Zander explained, gloating slightly as he glanced at Sarah who did her best not to react.

"What development was that?" Martin asked as he looked over various scans and reports that Zander had provided him.

Zander shifted one particular X-ray forward for Martin's examination. "One thing that was interesting, to us, that we have not seen in the original subject or Spare's mutation, is that X-23 has a single claw amongst the bones in her feet as well."

Martin ran his finger along the close up x-ray of a foot. "What caused that?"

Zander glanced at Sarah with a raised eyebrow.

"We're uncertain," She answered, careful to keep her tone calm and detached. "As you know, mutations by their very nature produce unexpected effects. It's possible we're just seeing a natural reaction. It's also possible it's the presence of two X chromosomes that cause the mutation.

Sarah saw Zander's gloating expression as she was forced to concede that it was her idea that might have caused this unexpected development. So she raised her brow in challenge, her voice gaining slight sharpness, "It's also possible that her youth and the trauma of how the mutant gene was provoked at such an early stage."

Zander scowled at her dig, but it didn't completely rid him of his gloating air. He had been right and no matter how valid her comments were, he had still won again. He didn't deny he also enjoyed subjecting X-23 to the strain of the test that caused her mutant factor to emerge.

Martin ignored their back and forth with the practice of someone who had years of experience doing so. Instead he was holding up two X-ray's, one of hands and arms, and the other of feet. He looked thoughtful at the scans, "How long before we can begin the process of bonding adamantium to the claws?"

"We could begin any time." Zander said, with a grin looking directly at Sarah as he did.

She shook her head but kept her peace, knowing that she would present the same arguments she did last time when they had decided to do it to Spare and those arguments would just fall upon deaf ears.

"I think we should begin within the next 6 months." Martin said decisively, looking up. "We gave Spare time to adjust to the mutation in his system and it seemed to work out well. Let's not rush things and get sloppy. Give her time to adjust to her new strength, speed and senses, as well as her regeneration and claws. Then we'll coat them in the metal."

Zander nodded, and glanced to his side, looking somewhat surprised by Sarah's lack of protest.

"However there was also another thing of note this weekend, we discovered." Zander said, changing topics with a sort of dreadful eagerness.

Martin looked up at Zander curiously waiting for him to continue, and Sarah did the same, though her look was more suspicious than Martin's.

"As you know, Spare successfully completed another mission this weekend. This one lasted 48 hours before extraction." Zander stated. "This was his first mission that had him out of visual proximity of our spotters for more than a six hour period."

"There were problems?" Martin asked quickly, tensing up.

"On the contrary. He got in, completed his objective and returned to the extraction point without trouble, and as far as we know without any identification." Zander stated. He directed another smirk at Sarah. "If this keeps up we may have to change designations… and start referring to X-23 as the spare."

"What's the issue?" Martin asked, cutting off any argument that could come out of the two.

Zander reached over and flicked the screen on the wall on to display another x-ray. "Upon return, we did a routine scan of Spare and discovered something… impossible."

He didn't wait for questions, flicking to another scan, a close up of the hands with the claws extended. "We discovered, and confirmed after multiple scans, that his claws, which were on average 7.3 inches in length when coated with adamantium... now are 7.8 inches in length."

Martin sat forward with a scowl on his face. "Bones are growing at the base or tip of the claws?"

"No, they are now 7.8 inches of adamantium, without any loss of density in the metal. Given that the metal is by all measurements… indestructible… that should be, as I said, impossible." Zander said, with more than a trace of wonder in his voice.

"Did something happen on the mission to cause this?" Martin demanded.

"No. Not at all. It was a standard assassination of some businessman who was trying to whistle blow on his company or something of that nature. There was nothing he would have been exposed to that could cause this." Zander shook his head with certainty. "One of the technicians noted it and called me. We went back and looked at previous scans, both post mission and standard bi-weekly ones, and determined the claws have been growing over some time. It wasn't something we looked for as we certainly did not expect it, so it was missed in the scans looking at his health."

"Do you have any theories?" He asked.

Zander glanced at Sarah who took that as her invitation to finally speak up on the topic.

"This is just a guess. But it looks like the energy that infuses his body down to the cellular level, the one that allowed him to so readily adapt to the introduced x-gene… adapted to the metal." She said hesitantly.

"It appears as though his body as it has grown over the past year has begun to grow the claws too and his body has somehow caused the metal to grow apace." She sounded unhappy with her diagnoses. "I can't prove it one way or the other, but it's just a guess."

Martin steepled his fingers and nodded slowly. "I want to keep an eye on that. I want daily scans to see if it continues."

Zander and Sarah both nodded at that. Despite their disagreements, they both were forced to confess that this wasn't something either of them could have predicted as everything they knew said it should be physically impossible.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

"Are you afraid?" Zander questioned, staring down at the girl strapped down onto the table in front of him. "Do you _feel_ Weapon X?"

He was alone in the room, he had dismissed the other doctors from the surgery upon their protests when he announced that they would not be using anesthesia in the process. He couldn't keep the hatred out of his tone as he stared down in disgust at the clone of the… _thing_ that had killed his father all those years ago.

He had no interest in making this less painful for the helpless animal, so he explained slowly, relishing the chance to do so. "I'm going to sharpen your claws and then extract them from your body. One by one. Bond the adamantium to them and then reinsert them… I imagine it will be _quite_ painful."

"I wouldn't want you to be bored while I do this. So while we're using radiation to depress that healing factor you've got. I've decided to inject some of the Spare's genes into your own. See if splicing his genetics with yours has any effects. Who knows, maybe it will kill you!" His tone was malicious and gleeful. The bed beneath her pulsed light radiation into her. Radiation he was protected from, both by her body and in the lead lined scrubs and gloves he wore.

Zander held up a syringe without preamble injecting it into her neck with irradiated fluid. "If nothing else maybe it will keep you… entertained while I work."

He wasn't really certain what, if anything would happen. But remembered the physical changes the Spare had experienced and how uncomfortable those were likely to be, as he simply wanted to add to her torment.

Setting the emptied syringe aside he held up a small medical saw that began to buzz ominously. He delighted in what he assumed was a frightened look that crossed her face as her eyes followed the saw.

"This is for my father." Zander whispered.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

"It seems like X-23 is reacting well to the metal on her claws." Martin opined as he closed the folder with the latest report in it.

"Very much like Spare, she has reacted positively to extraction and claw bonding once she adjusted to the slight weight differential." Zander said, pleased he could speak freely without the presence of Sarah around.

Martin nodded slowly, "Though I understand there was… an incident last night."

"There was." Zander nodded, his smirk dissolving into a wide grin.

"The death of an employee is hardly something to be smiling about." Martin scowled.

"Oh but it is!" Zander grinned. "He was X-23's most recent hand to hand combat trainer. Before that he had worked with Spare to train him."

"I'm aware of what his role was, Zander." Martin replied shortly.

"Yes, and it was a role X-23 was respecting and forming a bond of sorts with. We wanted to destroy that bond." Zander kept his tone mild, aware that his surrogate father only tolerated so much antagonism toward their experiment. "We wanted to continue to keep her from forming a sense of self. All psychology reports encourage us to do so. If she forms an emotional bond with someone else, beyond Kinney, that bond would likely be the one that ensures fanatical loyalty and devotion."

"I'm aware of those reports. That's also part of why we're keeping Kinney around. Until we sell X-23 and Spare off to permanent buyers that bond remains in place. When we prepared to sell them, that connections will be… severed." Martin said, his voice hard and cold.

Zander nodded, "Exactly. We didn't want that sort of emotional bond forming so it had to be taken care of. And you wanted solid proof of the effectiveness of the trigger I developed. This was merely two birds with one stone. One that could be done under controlled circumstances, and written off as a lab accident." Zander explained.

"So does the trigger work?" Martin asked leaning back with a grin.

Zander smirked glancing down at the blood spattered pictures in front of him and then looked up. "The trigger worked to perfection. Testing it on someone she was starting to... care for and respect, left her completely at the mercy of her instincts. She killed him in a rage without hesitation or remorse."

Martin nodded, looking pleased as Zander continued, "And it wasn't like something stressful happened to spark it. X-23 wasn't even fighting when she was set off. Just encountering him after I had applied the scent to a sword he had only picked up was enough for her to attack. She encounters the scent and explodes in a rage until she's killed everything in her presence."

"It will work on _anyone._ " Zander summed up with a malicious smile.

""Exceptional work son." Martin complimented with a wide grin.

"Thank you Martin." Zander replied with a matching grin.

"Does it work on the Spare as well?" Martin asked after a short pause as he continued to review the report.

Zander's grin faded and he sighed, "It… doesn't work on Spare. No matter what we do to the scent or what properties we put into it, a scent doesn't provoke him. It's not that he can't be provoked into a rage, as it's happened before. We just have not been able to replicate something that will automatically provoke the response. Every time we think we've come up with a trigger that will work, he doesn't respond the second time."

Martin scowled and he steepled his fingers, Zander's tone turned a little bit defensive, "Though he has proven himself equally effective without it. I'm uncertain as to why."

"Hn." Martin grunted. "Keep trying, I want the control for both of them. Keep me posted."

"Of course." Zander replied before closing the folder and looking thoughtful. "I would also like to propose something."

"What did you have in mind?" Martin asked, looking at Zander thoughtfully. He was truly proud of the work he had done and how many successes the man had seemingly engineered in the past decade since they had found and acquired Spare for the program.

"I want to start running extensive exercises with Spare and X-23." Zander proposed bluntly.

"We already have them spar against one another, what more are you asking for?" Zander inquired, brow furrowing.

"I want a full range of drills. Not only does keeping one instructor or sparring partner for an extended period of time run the same risks of forming bonds… but we're finding it harder to hire mercenaries to test different things against them especially with the unfortunate tendency for the mercenaries to die in simple exercises." Zander explained, "And if we're worried about keeping them alive, then Spare and X can't really be tested to their full extent. If we set them against one another and pull out all the restrictions, the two can go all out and then we can see just how far they can go."

Martin stared at Zander knowingly, "And perhaps display your belief that Spare is superior to X-23."

Zander shrugged and attempted to look innocent. "I hadn't really considered that aspect. But either way I would expect that there would be massive improvement between the two."

Martin rolled his eyes not buying the statement for a moment, before narrowing them in consideration, "Aren't you concerned that the two might form the same bonds we're worried about?"

"Hardly." Zander scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Spare is becoming the perfect weapon doing what he's told and X-23 is little better than an animal. Besides, they'll be fighting against each other. Hard to form a bond with someone if they're stabbing you on a regular basis. No… I am quite… confident, that they won't be forming any sort of emotional bonds with one another."

Martin looked down at the report in front of him before looking up at Zander, "Alright. You've convinced me. Let's start them on full drills, everything from hunt and capture, search and destroy, information retrieval, interrogation, and elimination drills. If we're going to do this, I want the full range done."

Zander's face was almost gleeful.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

A picture of an X-ray dropped down on the desk in front of Martin.

"Eight point two inches." Zander said with more than a trace of excitement. They had done daily scans for the past 3 months. He had waited ninety days ensuring that he could show measureable differences before bringing it up.

Martin examined the scan before looking up at Zander. "What are you proposing?"

"I want to go forward with the full bonding process now." Zander answered, practically vibrating in excitement.

Martin sat forward with an intense look. "What if you're wrong? If Dr. Kinney is wrong? What if his body can't adjust the metal as he grows?"

"I'm confident it can adjust to the influx of metal even though he's not done growing. After all the tests we've run, one thing stays constant with him, his body adapts. That's the power we're trying to classify. Adaptability. I'm sure of it." Zander replied confidently.

"What if you're wrong?" Martin repeated inexorably.

"Then if he survives he's shorter than average for the rest of his life." Zander replied. "He's fifteen, already large enough to function for all our needs if the adamantium won't allow his bones to grow. Weapon X is known to be shorter than average and we _both_ know the devastation he can cause."

"You realize if you're risking the viability of the weapon, and your personal favorite, and all the successes you have with him by doing this?" Martin asked carefully.

"I am fully aware of the risk. Spare is already damn near the perfect weapon. Let me complete the process." Zander answered confidently.

Martin hummed thoughtfully before he nodded slowly, "Alright Zander. Get it set up. We'll do the full bonding process."

Zander nodded, "The only downside is that we don't know how long it will take him to adjust… physically to the added weight and impact the metal will add to his skeleton."

"And…?" Martin asked leadingly.

"And, I think it's time to see if X-23 is any use at all for missions." Zander said with scorn in his voice. "That will keep money coming in even should Spare be down longer than expected."

"Agreed." Martin said shortly ignoring the scorn. It wasn't that X-23 was inferior in any way to Spare, despite the latter's ability to adapt. The trials the two had against one another actually had them fairly even in durability, stamina, regeneration, ferocity, and inventiveness. They were nearly equal on every level once the age disparity was factored in. It was just that Zander clearly disliked the subject. Martin just hoped it didn't cause his son to do something stupid.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

Dr. Sarah Kinney once more sat in a medical room. Ostensibly she was reading a book, but her eyes kept flicking to the teen… boy really, lying unconscious on the bed. The monitor hooked to his heart, beeped slowly and regularly. It was reassuring because at the moment it was the only sign of life. Even his chest seemed to barely move.

They hadn't even bothered informing her when Zander decided to move forward with the intensely physiologically stressful and invasive process of basically injecting molten metal and controlling it while it coated the bones of a living person. Sarah had nearly lost it when she had found out they were doing the full bonding process on a fifteen year old.

Her objections were loud and valid, he hadn't finished growing, and a male human was certainly not fully developed at age fifteen. Despite all the steps they'd taken to accelerate his maturation process. It could kill him, it could deform his growth moving forward. She had even argued that it wasn't like he wasn't effective on his missions, as much as she hated the thought of those missions. The truth was that he had a flawless record on those missions.

It wasn't even certain that the process would be successful. In the research they'd acquired, there had been only one successful bonding process and that was the original Weapon X. Though Martin claimed he had become aware of at least two others who survived similar processes, done by other organizations, though Sarah had not seen the files on them.

Martin hadn't listened to her, and had just told her that decision had been made. She hated it, but the plain fact of the matter was that the program didn't really need her any more. She was a geneticist and doctor, but they had no use for a geneticist at this point, and there were plenty of other medical doctors. Her opinion was asked less and less.

Sarah knew she was essentially only there for psychological reasons. Providing a consistent and steady female presence to make sure the two were not psychopaths, giving them a tenuous connection for the moment, until they were shipped off like so much product. And half the time she felt that it wasn't that she was giving them a connection so much as standard social grounding allowing them to pick up traits that would allow them to blend in in different places all over the world.

She was expected to read them things like the Art of War, things useful to their growth. She had been disobeying that for years. Reading them different story books with her visits. Quietly, in their rooms where no one would overhear. But she sensed the program pulling them farther and farther away from her.

She pinched her nose and rubbed her eyes. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She had taken this job as a genetic challenge. Reconstructing the DNA of the original Weapon X, which they'd only had a damaged supply of. She wasn't sure why, from every report she read, it wasn't like the guy didn't bleed enough that they couldn't find more.

Despite her best efforts, and some groundbreaking strides in the field, she hadn't been able to repair the Y chromosome, but duplicating the far less damaged X had been simpler, though still a medical miracle. That had led to the bastard Zander forcing her to be a surrogate to the female child.

That got her way more personally involved than she ever imagined. Then not long after the birth of her daughter, Zander had picked up this boy from England and were doing the same to him. As much as he seemed to hate X-23, he seemed to absolutely invest in the success of Spare simply as a way to either show her up or step away from weapon X.

She had tackled it like a challenge, the greatest of her young career. She had only thought about the results in the abstract. She hadn't really comprehended the full horror of children being raised like weapons, until she'd seen it first-hand.

She had thought about leaving so many times. But she just couldn't. She had to stay for both of the children's sake. She needed to be a little bit of a balance, to try and humanize not just her daughter, but the boy as well. She considered them both her children at this point, and she had to do her best to give them both a moral compass.

Sarah had to treat them as something other than weapons. Thankfully she wasn't the only one. Some of their instructors had been kind while performing their instruction to both children. But what worried her is that one of the instructors who _had_ acted humanely had been killed by X-23.

She hadn't been able to find out anything more about that situation. And more and more Zander was acting inhumanely. The past few months had been filled with combat between the two kids she saw as her own. They were given different scenarios and squared off against one another.

Inevitably they would end up cutting one another to pieces. The two of them were the only two that could completely cut loose with one another. Inflicting wounds that might be fatal for anyone else, certainly would be debilitating, only for them to shrug it off, healing the damage in the matter of moments before re-engaging.

Then there were the missions that Spare had been sent on. She had no idea how many people the boy in front of her had already killed. And they had sent out X-23 for a mission herself less than a week ago, starting her on the same road.

Her eyes were drawn back to the boy with another shake of her head. They had bonded unbreakable metal in full to the skeleton of the boy in front of her, he wasn't even close to fully mature, especially as a male.

There was no way of knowing how it might stunt his growth, and that was _if_ he managed to survive the process. The metal had been bonded to his skeleton, but the process had not gone exactly as planned.

They had him hooked up, submerged in freezing water in order to keep the body temperature as low as possible during the process. However they had gotten the machines going, and started the process. Spare had convulsed the instant the metal started pouring into his body from a myriad of tubes that were hooked up.

A few moments later, there was some sort of pulse of energy that hit the base. It seemed to happen as the process reached its peak, and succeeded shutting down every electronic at the base for a short while and the electronics in the room permanently. No one could identify where it came from, though the prevailing theories were that either it was a massive electrical overload or something caused by Spare.

Thankfully it hadn't happened earlier and the metal had finished entering his body and molded to his skeleton before everything stopped.

She stared at the boy's form as he continued to breathe slowly as she thought about what they were doing to children.

Both X-23 and the 'Spare' were quiet by nature. Though mostly because there was no sort of social interaction encouraged with each other or anyone else. She had no idea how they were feeling about their circumstances, about what was happening, about her. They didn't talk about it.

Anything that might create an actual personality in them was prohibited.

She wanted so desperately to get them out. But had no idea how to go about it. There was no way the company was going to let them go but Sarah couldn't stand it. She had to start making plans.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

Zander angrily swiped his arm across his desk, sending his keyboard and the various nick knacks on his desk along with a pile of papers to go flying throughout his office. He let out a cry of anger as he kicked his trashcan, denting it and sending it hurtling into a wall, leaving a dent in the wall as well. He didn't care.

They had lost Spare in a giant explosion. The explosion had killed him before destroying the monitoring devices they imbedded in his armor and the three subdermal devices they had planted as well that kept them aware of his status and general location during missions.

The mission had been simple, it hadn't even involved any necessary deaths. Spare had been ordered to get into the facility, and get samples of various chemicals they were developing there. The fear had been that they were developing a type of wide dispersal neurotoxin.

They were able to keep an eye on his progress through radio and camera feed. The mission had been going without a hitch when he approached the main target of the mission. However as Spare approached his attention was caught by something. They realized in playback that it was a large bomb. But there hadn't been time to order a retreat.

The bomb had already been counting down, when Spare had seen it, it was already down to its last four seconds. He had clearly turned to flee when the entire camera had jolted, then gone dead, at the same time everything went dead.

Surveillance outside of the factory was hardly necessary as the entire building went up in a giant explosion that could be seen by the entire neighborhood, hell the entire city could see it. The temperatures recorded at the sight suggested that the explosive might have been thermite. Whatever it was powerful and burned hot.

Radioactive material from various chemicals were all over the site. The company was hopeful that it might be able to, after media attention died down and investigations did the same they might be able to slip in and recover the skeleton if they could find it in the wreckage. Assuming investigators didn't find it first.

They had no indication that the target was anything other than the facility. There was no hint that their operation was being targeted, by all indications it looked like the explosives were planted to destroy the factor and they had the misfortune of infiltrating at exactly the wrong moment.

Zander put his head in his hands as he flopped back in his desk chair. He took several steadying breaths. It wasn't the end of the world.

Spare had been a resounding success up to this point. Nothing but a perfect soldier without a single hesitation or failure to follow orders. Zander had successfully lobbied with Martin that Spare's successes along with his body's ability to adapt in ways X-23's couldn't. That meant that Spare should be the focus going forward.

Even now they had 24 embryos, cloned from Spare's DNA after they had incorporated the DNA from Weapon X that were gestating. They had proven the project had worked. And even this setback hadn't driven away most of their donors who were willing to think long term.

Next time they would have an army of Spares.

The only thing that continued to niggle at Zander was the fact that X-23 was still alive. After almost 2 years of active missions it had a mission success record the same as Spare's. Not a single failure, though nowhere near the same amount of missions completed as Spare had been doing it for several more years than X-23.

Zander worried if it continued to succeed X-23 might become the centerpiece of their project going forward since it was now the one that would be center stage while the two dozen spares were grown to maturity. And they might make more clones of the beast too.

He had to show that she was inferior. That Sarah Kinney's pet monster created from a monster was nothing more than a beast and an inferior one to the one that _he_ had partially discovered and been entirely responsible for creating.

A slow smirk crossed his face.

Well there were ways to ensure that happened as well. He would just have to eliminate the problem himself.

He had no idea that while he was first raging over the loss of his weapon, and then plotting, on a way to get rid of X-23 that Dr. Sarah Kinney had her own reaction

The same time that Zander spent raging, she had spent weeping. Weeping for the loss of a child, one she viewed as hers.

The same time he began to plot to get rid of X-23 she began to plot to end everything.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

Dr. Sarah Kinney glanced down at her watch, before looking up nervously at the building in front of her. The watch she was looking at wasn't telling time. It had just counted down past fourteen minutes and continued to spiral lower.

She stood in the frigid cold of the evening air. The area was covered in snow, and wind chill dropped the temperature down to almost unbearable levels despite the cold beauty of the landscape.

She ignored it all. She stood there, in a grey jacket, jeans. There was a duffel bag in her right hand, with everything important enough to take with her, a file of papers under her arm, and a still smoking gun in her left hand.

Everything had come to a culmination so quickly. It had been less than six months since Spare's death, everything had fallen apart even quicker than she had imagined possible.

X-23 had been sent out on a mission, a mission in which Zander bizarrely had insisted on accompanying her. A mission in which the higher ups had thought their weapon had been ambushed and died.

For a brief time Sarah had thought her heart had been ripped out. When she lost Spare in that explosion, a boy she had come to care for as deeply as her own offspring she had been devastated. The loss of X-23 had ripped the emotional skeleton out of her.

Only Sarah hadn't lost her. X-23 had returned to the base. Somehow she had made her way back. Sarah had caught Zander's expression when he saw X-23 and immediately had known what happened. He had set her up to be killed, and may have even helped.

That, more than anything solidified her decision.

However crazy things hadn't stopped there. Her sister, whom she'd not seen in a decade, had called because her daughter, Sarah's niece, though she'd never met, only exchanged letters with on occasion, had been abducted.

Sarah had hesitated only briefly before she made a decision. She smuggled X-23 out of the complex and used her and all her skills to save her niece.

Even though the decision had been successful, her niece being recovered Sarah felt another piece of her soul die. She used X-23 in the same way that Zander and the entire company had.

Sarah had debated not returning with X-23, but knew if she tried to just run off they would be hunted for the rest of their lives. And the company wouldn't stop until they had recovered X-23 and Sarah was likely dead.

She needed to do everything she could to make sure they couldn't come after them. Still, she regretted taking X-23 back. Because Zander had done something she never imagined possible.

He saw her use X-23 for something personal, so he had made the decision to do the same.

Zander had taken her and set her after Martin Sutter and his entire family. Their house had supposedly and 'mysteriously' caught fire, with Martin and his wife Rachel dying in the fire, though their son Henry had survived. He had been found in the forest and was in shock, not able to tell any of the authorities or doctors anything.

However when that had been revealed to her, she was in X-23's room, talking to her.

X-23 had opened her mouth and pushed out a picture. A picture of Martin and his family. The same type of picture given to both Spare and X-23 when they were assigned to eliminate someone.

It only took a moment for the pieces to fall into place. But when it did, she finally realized then what sort of monster Zander Rice really truly was.

She had spared only a moment to wonder if Zander had wanted Martin killed for control of the project or because her vague suspicions about Zander sleeping with Rachel, Martin's wife, were accurate. She had always had her suspicions but dismissed them because while Rachel was far younger than Martin. Martin still was Zander's surrogate father. Sarah could not imagine him doing that to the older man who loved him like a son.

Apparently she had given him too much credit.

Sarah promised the girl then, that they were going to get out of here.

It broke her heart when the girl who she should have raised as a daughter hadn't shown an emotional reaction. She had only asked, "A mission?"

And even more when Sarah had to admit that yes… it would be one last mission.

She had subtly prepared everything she needed already, she had been doing so since Spare had died. This just pushed it over the edge. So it only took a few hours to gather what she needed.

She had ended up speaking with Zander because she didn't want anyone to be suspicious and the man looked anything but broken up by the death of the man who treated him like a son.

The bastard was practically smug. He had led her to a room she hadn't seen before and shown off two dozen embryo's already in growth.

She couldn't believe it.

He had been amused, "This is business Sarah. Not science. You never understood that."

He had taunted her that they had used Spare's DNA though spliced with Weapon X's because he was clearly superior with his adaptability. Nothing of her would exist in the new children they were going to produce.

Her skin had crawled when Zander had run his fingers through her hair claiming he wasn't a bad guy, before summarily firing her. She had batted his hand out of her hair and told him to screw himself.

His last words to her rang in her mind "You're out. Tonight. Go see your pet one last time. X-24 through 50 aren't going to need you… and if you're not gone by morning, I'll have you shot."

She ignored the threat. And completed the final part of her preparations. All of her stuff packed in a duffel. She had shuddered, realizing what a monster she had to be, but she had no choice. One last time.

She had printed off pictures of every employee at the base and slipped them in a folder.

She had summarily killed the two guards around X-23's door. Shooting them in the head without warning. She hadn't liked them, but hadn't hated them either. But she had killed them. Considering what she was about to ask the girl to do. Sarah felt she couldn't do any less.

Then she slipped the folder underneath X-23's door with a watch, the standard way of giving the girl mission time. Just like all the other missions both Spare and her daughter had received. Then she had opened her daughter's door and walked away.

Sarah wasn't sure she could face what she was unleashing on the people around her. She thought she could hear faint sounds inside but she wasn't certain. The entire base was sound proofed.

She glanced at her watch again, reading six minutes and thirty seconds left. She knew her daughter had a similar time piece on keeping her apprised of how long until the mission had to be completed. The timepiece was something that neither her, nor Spare when he was still alive had missed.

She hated having her daughter kill like this. But would only ask it one last time.

Sarah desperately wanted to explain to her daughter that the blood spilled tonight was not on her daughter's hands but on her own.

Because unlike the missions before.

Tonight what her daughter did was right.

Tonight what her daughter served was justice.

Tonight, her daughter began to take back the life that was stolen from her. Stolen from her brother.

Sarah had done everything she could to sabotage security systems and early warnings that might go out alerting the base. But the base was filled with armed personnel weapons and security systems and anything else a military operation might need.

Christ, she had been so stupid. It had been that way the entire time she had been there but she had been so focused on the challenge at first. It was only now, in retrospect that she understood exactly what she had signed up for.

She glanced at her watch once more. Three minutes.

Just three minutes and then… and then they could leave. The two of them and hopefully be a family.

"Come on… where are you?" She spoke to the air, as the watch counted below a minute and a half.

As Sarah stared at the watch, counting down from ten seconds, her head suddenly jerked up, as a loud explosion ripped through the air. Sarah looked up and saw a plume of flame ripping out of the center of the large sprawling building.

And then down as the front door opened and a diminutive girl brazenly strode out of the front doors as more explosions ripped through the building behind her. She was dressed in black leather like material from neck to toe though it was sleeveless. It was her standard mission outfit minus most of the tracers and monitoring devices they usually used.

Sarah felt tears well up in her eyes, as her daughter walked toward her and for the first time in as long as she could remember she exhaled a prayer, "Thank you God."

The sensation she felt was so utterly freeing she couldn't figure out how to describe it. They were free. The two of them could go now and actually live life.

The girl got within five yards of her before she froze, and a growl built inside her,

Sarah frowned and spoke quietly, "X-23… What… what's wrong? Are you…"

A snarl of rage escaped the girl, and her green eyes turned red.

"Oh no…" Sarah breathed out. She recognized the reaction almost immediately. Her brilliant mind didn't even need a moment to realize what happened.

When Zander had touched her hair.

He had told her to go see her pet. Sarah knew he must have applied the trigger. He had wanted X-23 to kill her. And X-23 was helpless to do anything to react to it.

"No!" She scrambled backwards her arms lifted futilely trying to protect herself as X-23 metal claws emerged and the now red eyed girl leaped at her. She knew there was no way to escape, she may have been older and taller with a longer reach, but X-23 was the pinnacle of combat effectiveness and there was no way Sarah was going to manage to fight her off.

In that moment, when Sarah's life was supposed to flash before her eyes, instead all she saw were regrets, the things she would never be able to do with her daughter. Sarah would never have a chance to make up for everything she had done. She would never get to teach her daughter all the things she had missed out on.

The things she'd never get to show her or tell her.

Sarah would never get to demonstrate life outside of the complex without it being a mission.

She wouldn't get to do any of it.

And all Sarah felt was sorrow for the girl she had given birth to, and all she had put her through.

Sarah gasped and felt an impact in her stomach, sending her falling back into the snow as blood splashed in the air hitting her in the face. She couldn't get a breath and realized in a moment that she must be dying.

However after several moments she was able to draw in a breath of air, albeit painfully, as her brain attempted to process the sight in front of her.

Her daughter's claws had struck a fatal blow… or what would have been a fatal blow.

Only they hadn't been in her.

Standing there with X-23's claws imbedded into his chest was Spare, he had appeared between them and taken the blow.

X-23 had buried them up to her knuckles in both sides of his chest. His hands were held up and wrapped around her wrists holding her in place as she snarled.

Sarah could see the grey hoodie he wore darkened from blood where X-23 had struck.

"X-23, no!" Spare's voice growled as she struggled to move past him, to pull away to attack Sarah. There was no logic or grace to her movements as she was lost in her frenzy caused by the trigger.

X-23 was pushing and struggling to get past him, snarling in rage. Spare was growling as he held her fists imbedded in his own chest refusing to let her pull away in the most effective way possible.

Sarah pushed herself up on her hands slowly in the snow as she stared in disbelief.

She watched as the boy she thought dead shifted and kept himself interposed between X-23 and herself.

The two of them were both twisting and shifting their weight as they fought for leverage and at cross purpose. While X-23 was a little more flexible and able to twist and turn, Spare was a little more sturdy and unyielding. Mostly because while his bones were coated with metal allowing for that, hers were not allowing for slightly more flexibility.

But over the course of minutes their movements slowed down. She also watched as the red in X-23's eyes slowly flickered and then went out, going back to their normal emerald color.

Sarah could tell when the girl came back to herself because of the soft 'schlickt" sound of her claws retracting out of Spare's body and back into her forearms.

Spare grunted slightly as the claws retracted, blood darkening the front and back of his sweater completely enough that it looked mostly black from the wet blood. However only a moment later he took a breath and seemed to shake it off.

X-23 looked up at Spare, blinking several times before she looked past him at Sarah who slowly and tentatively pushed herself up from the ground.

X-23 raised her hand toward Sarah, her expression filled with sorrow and fear, "I… I'm sorry…"

The look on the girl's face broke Sarah's heart. She quickly shook her head, waving it off. She had far more to be sorry about than the girl did. Rather than try to explain, she stepped forward carefully, not sure if the scent would be provoked again.

When X-23 didn't react, just watched her, Sarah, for the first time in her life enfolded her daughter in a hug. X-23 was stiff and unresponsive at first before slowly melting into the hug.

Spare had watched X-23 carefully making sure she was not going to react again.

He moved to step away from the embracing pair to give them space, but before he could take that step a hand reached out, grabbed him by the back of the hoodie he was wearing. Sarah gripped the hood and with a tug pulled him into the hug as well, unashamed of the tears running down her face.

There was a longer pause before he returned the embrace.

There was a small pause before he pulled back, though he left his arm at her back. Her daughter shifted as well so that all three could look at the still burning inferno that formerly was a large complex building.

"You made quite the mess, X-23," The teenager spoke, his tone relatively flat, though there was a note of amusement in it.

Sarah glanced at him, and shook her head, before looking down at her daughter, "Laura. Your name is Laura. Not X-23."

The newly named Laura seemed to turn that over in her head before nodding slowly.

"You are my daughter, and I love you," Sarah finally spoke the words that she had wanted to since her daughter's birth but hadn't dared. Outwardly Laura didn't seem to react. But Sarah felt the younger girl press herself closer into her side.

"It's nice to meet you Laura,"Spare said from the other side of her.

She turned to the boy on the other side of her, "And your name is-"

"Harry Potter. I know," the teen said, matter of factly.

Sarah looked surprised. She hesitated glancing down at her daughter before back at the teen she had thought dead. "We… were never sure whether you remembered your birth name or not."

Harry shook his head, "I didn't, and my relatives certainly never used it before the program found me."

"Then… how?" She couldn't help but asking.

A brief scowl crossed his face, "Spare died."

"How did you survive?" she couldn't help but ask.

"I didn't." He responded after a pause. "I just got better... and…in the process I found out who I was."

She didn't quite understand what he was saying. Though she understood he wasn't telling the entire story.

Nonetheless she reached up with her hand and tilted his head to force him to look at her fully, realizing for the first time she actually had to look up to meet his eyes. "Who you are… You are my son as well, and I love you."

Harry opened his mouth and she shook her head cutting him off able to tell from his expression that he was about to argue with her.

"Maybe not biologically... strictly speaking. But it's true none the less," Sarah said, her voice clear. She needed him to understand. Despite the monster she felt herself become, she needed him to understand.

Harry met her eyes and slowly nodded before a faint smile crossed his face, "I suppose you're right."

She smiled, "Besides you have Laura's genetics inside of you, and she has a part of me. So. You're her brother too."

Laura was looking back and forth between the two without comment. Though a small smile crossed her face.

Harry suddenly stiffened and his head whipped around. He pulled away from the loose embrace and moved toward the burning building. Laura was only a moment behind on his heels.

Sarah followed the two of them a bit slower, as they moved around the side of the building.

She stopped as she saw an open door with smoke pouring out of it from the still burning building. A figure was crawling slowly out of the building.

It only took Sarah a moment to recognize the figure.

Zander Rice looked like he had been beaten to hell but was still alive.

Harry and Laura came to a stop a few feet away from him.

Zander realized someone was there and looked up from his crawling through the snow. His eyes widened in disbelief and he croaked out in relief, "Spare…."

Then his eyes widened as he took in X-23 and Sarah behind them. His eyes focused on Sarah briefly. "You're… alive."

"Yes." Sarah replied, her tone coming out cold, as she felt no sympathy for the injured figure in front of them. "Despite your best efforts… my daughter didn't kill me."

"Spare… kill them both… that's a- cough- order." Zander rasped out looking up at the group in front of him.

"The name is Harry." he growled as he crouched down. "And I won't kill my sister or my mother and certainly not for you, you son of a bitch."

Sarah's eyes widened and began to water at that statement.

Even the crack as Harry quickly and efficiently broken Zander's neck wasn't enough to ruin the statement for her.

Harry didn't catch the reaction, instead his eyes picked out something in the hand of the now dead scientist.

It was a vial labeled "Trigger."

It only took him a second of examining before he tossed it up and into the fire burning on the side of the building. Hearing the tinkle as the glass broke.

He turned to look at Sarah expectantly. Noting that Laura did the same, although that was after kicking a foot full of snow over the dead man.

"Now, let's get out of here before there's any response," Sarah spoke up.

"Where?" Laura asked as the three walked away from the building.

"To go be a family. Along with some people who may be able to understand… to help," Sarah answered as she lead them to where she had parked her car not far away.

"I can't," Harry said abruptly.

Sarah and Laura both stopped to look at him.

Harry shook his head, "I'm sorry but I can't. There's… something I have to do."

"What do you have to do?" Sarah asked, meeting green eyes that were so eerily similar to her own.

There was a pause as Harry clearly hesitated before responding slowly. "There's someone I have to kill."

"You just killed someone," Laura observed earnestly without any tone of humor, although Harry's mouth did twitch slightly in response.

"No… the... man who killed my biological parents... and tried to kill me." Harry responded quietly, "He's alive again. And I need to go end him. Permanently."

"You're not going off to who knows where alone." Sarah responded immediately. Though her brow crinkled at the words 'alive again.'

"I have to," Harry responded, straightening.

Sarah stared into his eyes, reading the seriousness there. "Alright." She nodded in agreement, able to tell she'd not be able to talk him out of it.

"But… we're a family. We're going to go together," Sarah followed up.

"It's going to be dangerous." Harry replied slowly. "I don't want you to get hurt…"

"I don't care." Sarah responded heatedly. "We're a family. We've just gotten together and we're not splitting up now."

Harry stared at the woman who had provided the only care he had ever known. "Okay… Mum."

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

Two dozen boots crunched in the newly fallen snow as they moved through the area. The large building still burned, sending plumes of smoke into the air, though the fire was quickly dying out.

This far out in the middle of nowhere, it was easier just to let it burn itself out. There was no one all that close by to care.

"The facility?" questioned a voice over the shared radio to the dozen men moving and inspecting the area.

There was a pause, before a reply came back over the radio. "It's nothing but a scorched crater, sir."

"The scientists?" The voice inquired again after a pause.

"All dead," came the leader's voice again. "Most were housed on the grounds."

"The Embryo's?" the voice inquired after another pause.

"Destroyed." replied the leader simply.

There was a long pause as the men continued to inspect the area before regrouping back where they had arrived. "Any survivors?"

"Based on what happened? I'm guessing X-23 survived. Nothing else is likely." The man replied. "Though there's too much damage to too many bodies to positively identify everyone, so it's possible."

"So… it's a total loss?" The voice asked finally.

"Yes Sir…. I believe so."

"All right. We'll flag the identities of everyone involved at the facility and see if any of them show up anywhere. Gather your men, the helicopter is inbound and return to base."

"Yes Sir."

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**


	2. Weapon Versus Beast

**Innocence Lost**

 **~Chapter 2~**

 **Weapon Versus Beast**

Two Months later.

"Alright, between the goblins being helpful, and our recon, we have a pretty good idea of the terrain," Harry said as he pointed to a map that lay upon a table.

Both Laura and Sarah leaned over the table examining the map. It showed a very large expanse of area. Given the dimensions, the map was larger than twenty by twenty miles, but it seemed to be hard to get an exact reading on the size.

"It's a lot of ground to cover," Sarah observed quietly, "How dense is the forest?"

Harry glanced at Laura, before looking back, "Very. Unnaturally so. And it's got inhabitants we've not seen before. Horse-men that they call centaurs… giant spiders. What I presume to be unicorns."

"Though neither Harry nor I can get close enough to be for sure. They flee instinctively." Laura added with a trace of discontent in her voice.

"What's this?" Sarah asked tapping the map where there were several structures and a clear space from the trees.

"It's the ruins of a town," Harry responded. "At our last meeting, the Goblins said up until two or so years ago it was a bustling wizarding town."

"What happened?" Sarah asked.

"Same thing that happened to every place else. An attack by this Dark Lord," Laura said with disgust.

"Everyone who didn't die in attacks on Diagon Alley, their Ministry underneath London, and this 'Hogsmeade' village have retreated to Hogwarts," Harry explained, pointing to the large castle on the map.

"Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, these places sound… lovely," Sarah commented as she ran a hand through her hair.

She had missed the strategy meeting with the Goblins that Harry had arranged the day before. She wasn't the military strategist her children were. Then again she hadn't had that information crammed in her head for the past dozen or more years.

"We've done what we can to scout Hogwarts short of actually trying to enter. It's surprisingly well protected, surrounded on sides by cliffs and ravines, and the walls are impressive as well." Harry continued.

"Not to mention the defenses we can't see," Laura added in a frustrated huff.

"Nothing we can do about that at the moment." Harry shrugged, though he did share some of Laura's frustrations.

"If those Goblins were right and the… memories you got have any truth to them… we have to get in there." Laura said.

"I know," Harry replied. "But managing to get in, when the Goblins are saying the protections on the place are on a war footing… easier said than done. Owls… Apparently their way of communicating, can't even get through."

"Unfortunately, it's also the best we've got for getting to your parent's killer," Laura added quietly.

"The good news is that the Goblins have been as good as their word, tracking down these pieces of him for us." Harry said, "And even better, because of them we've gotten the second of two of the soul pieces... which we've seen first hand that our claws can destroy. Mine destroyed the ring, and Laura's destroyed the cup without much problems."

There was no mention of the magical backlash each had experienced. The cup had detonated and blown Laura across the room.

The ring was even more spectacular. When Harry had picked up the ring, his hand had withered to almost nothing in the matter of a few moments, before Harry's healing ability had kicked in and restored the limb to it's normal state without there seeming to be any ill effects. Harry had then sliced through the ring and the stone in one swipe. Two things had happened. A flash of magic had shot into Harry, that didn't seem to have any effect before a second explosion blew him back, but somewhat less spectacularly than Laura..

"The goblins sent another message this morning that said they picked up the third soul piece I told them about, but it was a fake." Harry continued, a trace of frustration in his voice.

"A fake?" Laura asked sharply.

Harry nodded and from the pocket of his coat dropped a necklace on the table. "It looks the same, but it's like a cheap knockoff. There was a message inside too, that at least points at someone else having it."

"That could prove problematic." Laura said with a grimace.

"Only somewhat, the Goblins have managed to narrow the suspects to two people. And the b-jerk's memories point at one of them more than the other. So at least we have some place to start." Harry said, cutting himself off. His mother had been trying to get them both to watch their language.

"Only if we find someone in the know to interrogate," countered Laura.

"Point," Harry conceded.

"So now we still have three to go. One you're pretty sure is in the castle. One held by one of his flunkies, but not in his vault. And now one more that was stolen by someone else and could be anywhere," Laura summed up with some exasperation.

"And to make it worse, we can't track down the various homes… that the murderer and his allies may be hiding in. Even if we could attack someone on their family home, the Goblins say that the base of someone's 'family magics' is considered foolhardy at best and suicidal at worst," Harry muttered.

"I still say they're underestimating us. They have no idea of our capabilities." Laura argued, crossing her arms.

"I don't disagree, but between Tom's memories and the goblin's insistence. Being part of a family, and the family magics that surround it are powerful and can have effects in ways that can sometimes be unexpected." Harry argued.

Laura held up her hands, not wanting to spiral down, "We already had this argument. We haven't really seen the benefits but we agreed that we should take any advantage we could get. Which is why we let the Goblins try and go through that ritual adopting the two of us into the Potter Family."

"Yeah, but it only worked for Mom," Harry countered, not missing the smile that spread briefly on Sarah's face each time one of the two of them called her that. "They said you were already part of the family."

"Yes, and let me tell you how weird _being adopted_ _by my own children_ was to wrap my head around," Sarah said with a roll of her eyes, "Usually it's the parents doing the adopting. Not the other way around."

"Magic is frustrating… and silly," Laura said crossing her arms.

"Can't argue with the protection it put on our identities though," Harry grinned.

"Point." Laura said with a sigh echoing Harry's earlier comment.

The goblins had explained what was possible when talking concerns about being traced and ability to move freely. They were very familiar with establishing and protecting identities in the 'muggle' world. The protection of being actual family had just increased the strengths of those protections. The three had tested it by opening bank accounts of more than ten thousand dollars each, automatically triggering a closer look at the transactions and the identities of the people, and the identities of Harry Potter, Laura Potter and Sarah Potter came up as completely genuine with a history and everything.

Both Harry and Laura were very familiar with the necessity of identities as sometimes they had to be inserted into hostile countries. There was always concern about identities holding up under scrutiny and an in depth analysis, especially if a country was on the lookout for anything suspicious. The identities and protections the goblins established were not only solid, but apparently magically protected and spelled not to set off any red flags.

"As much as I appreciate not having my bastard father's surname anymore," Sarah smiled tiredly and ran a hand through her hair once more. "At least now you know how I feel. While sneaking into the bank with me was one thing… now you're going to all these places I can't even see. I still don't know how Laura can see them."

"The Goblins weren't sure about that or how she was already considered magically part of the family. Probably her mutation, plus stabbing me enough times over the years that she's absorbed and integrated at least some my blood," Harry shrugged in response. "The goblins were very much in approval of repeated stabbings, said that it's very similar to their own adoption ceremonies."

Sarah shuddered at the comment about goblins, but chose to ignore it and nodded, "I know, we've just never observed Laura's genetics doing that before. Her auto immune response shouldn't hesitate to destroy any foreign DNA. But your DNA has so many commonalities now it's hard to discern them with the equipment I have. Much less a more in depth scan I'd need."

She shook her head focusing back on the mystery in front of her as she looked back at the castle and the map in front of her "What about coming in from the air?" Sarah asked, refocusing the topic and trying to add to the strategy discussion.

"No good." Harry answered in the negative, "The Goblins are certain that the protections guard against any sort of aerial assault as well. Apparently Wizards have been flying on brooms for centuries. While they may be behind modern times in terms of society, according to the Goblins, they have been flying for far longer than normal humans have."

"Not to mention that, at least a thousand years ago according to them, Dragon riders were fairly common," Laura added, with a grimace.

Harry shook his head, "And I don't think they'll let me just walk up to get access to the room we need. At least not without more issues than I really think we'd be able to explain away."

"You never know. They might…Mr. Boy-Who-Lived," Laura teased.

"And died," Harry replied with a roll of his eyes.

Sarah shook her head at the banter between her two children. They had improved since they had escaped the facility. The two didn't exactly become fun and easy going by any stretch. But Sarah was surprised how comfortable the two seemed around each other and her. There were also times she just couldn't help but marvel at the way they moved around one another. They never seemed to get in one another's way, flowing and moving around each other almost unconsciously.

"If we can't do anything in the meantime, what we need to do is thin out his allies." Laura observed, interrupting Sarah's thoughts.

"Everyone against Voldemort is holed up at the castle, at least in England." Harry tapped his finger on the castle in the map.

"He keeps some patrols in the surrounding areas at uneven intervals, mostly just seeming to keep an eye on the castle from time to time. They're easy to mark." She pointed to different points on the map, "But they're easy to avoid. Seems like he has cemented his control of the cities."

"I know I'm not an expert on strategy or anything… but… if… he has all these people trapped at this castle, why doesn't he have them surrounded?" Sarah asked, looking back and forth between Harry and Laura. "Wouldn't that be the smart thing to do?"

"Yeah, it probably would be. But according to the Goblins, the seat of their government has something that tracks magic use. They can hunt down whenever someone uses wanded spells outside of Diagon Alley, and the area around Hogwarts." Laura was the one to answer that question.

"There are supposedly a small handful of other blind spots in it, but the Goblins didn't know for certain." Harry added. "Doesn't really impact the patrols in the area."

"You can take them out?" Sarah asked

"Please, Mum," Harry looked up at her, "I could blindfold Laura, and trap an arm behind her back, and she could still probably take them out without much fuss. There's nothing professional or organized about any of this. They're thugs. Rapists. Murderers."

"Then why don't you?" Sarah asked, disgust filling her mind as mental images of both her father and Zander Rice briefly flicked through her mind

"Don't think it'll do much good, they're not much more than occasional spotters." Laura said scornfully, "They're not there in a regular rotation that we can determine."

"They only occasionally put patrols out to keep an eye on the castle to see if they're getting any support or make sure they're not up to anything. Although… I think it's mostly focused on one person."

"This... Albus Dumbledore," Harry added, "...is apparently the sole reason the castle hasn't fallen. Because supposedly the old wizard can match Tom in terms of power and whose knowledge of obscure and arcane makes Tom wary of him."

"Yeah, Goblins think Tom's mostly just waiting until Dumbledore dies before he strikes," Laura added. "Apparently he's a hundred and fifty or sixty years old."

Harry nodded, "Though we might get lucky and snag someone who has information we need, I don't think that waiting for patrols and then taking them out will do what we need to draw them out."

"Thankfully…" He continued after a pause, and a bit of disgust in his voice, shifting the map around, slightly, "If the Goblins information is correct, we don't have to."

"What do you mean?" Laura asked, drawing up one of her legs to her chest as she half sat half perched on her chair.

"Well, you heard them last time, my parent's killer has a flair for the dramatic. And apparently that includes every full moon allowing his werewolf packs to roam through the forest and the ruins of the town."

"Why would they do that?' Laura asked, sitting forward.

"Intimidation, and it's a convenient place to let them run free." Harry's voice was flat. "Most werewolves are nothing more than completely wild animals."

"Most?' Sarah asked carefully.

"Apparently there's a potion that can be taken to keep the mind." Harry shook his head, "The Goblins also said the leader of the group retains his mind enough to lead, and talk. They are uncertain as to why though."

"That might help explain pack dynamics," Laura offered thoughtfully. "Otherwise they'd just spend time fighting one another."

"You know, I know that we just came from a facility running an assassination squad, and child experiments, so I have literally no room to talk here… but…" Sarah shook her head slowly. "I can't believe any country just allows this to happen…"

Harry looked up at her and shook his head, "The regular government doesn't really know about all of this. Magicals keep their affairs separate. All of it enforced by treaty. It's been done this way for centuries."

"Although this wizard has been coming perilously close to breaking their international Statute of Secrecy, repeatedly. Not sure what happens when the normal government finally wises up." Harry shrugged, before gesturing back at the map, "Anyway, my plan is to disrupt this werewolf group. Maybe if we take out a significant number of them, it might send a message or at least draw the bastard out."

"Too bad we can't simply take a sniper rifle, set up and pick them off at our leisure." Laura shook her head in regret.

"Why not?" Sarah asked her daughter.

"Well, werewolves are resistant to damage to most forms of damage so a bullet is unlikely to do enough damage to kill them, unless it's done with silver. But even a bullet will get pushed out after enough effort. There's also another little matter..." Harry answered for her before trailing off.

"Spiders." Laura answered, with a small growl. "Spiders all over the damn place. We'd never be able to settle anywhere far enough away. Even though there are more than a dozen places that might be used as sniper spots. The things would be all over us before we finished setting our scope. They're practically everywhere among the forest."

Harry nodded in agreement, "Speaking of… Did you get a chance to look at the samples we brought back?"

Sarah perked up a little at that, finally something she did know a good deal more than her children about.

"Yes, I've looked at almost everything you brought back, as well as the stuff the Goblins provided. When it comes to werewolf saliva… and I don't even want to know where or how goblins got ahold of that, it may retard the regeneration process. It's surprisingly virulent, but the virus inherent in the saliva is defeated as simply as any other virus by your immune systems." Sarah explained.

"So, we'll just recover more slowly from wounds," Laura summed up.

"Yes, though how much may depend on the severity of the wound and amount of saliva contacting the wound." Sarah explained.

"What about the venom?" Harry asked, "Anytime we're around there, that's a legitimate risk."

"I've seen toxins with similarities before but never quite like it." She answered, pulling out a notebook to consult. "It's not really a poison, it's a paralytic with similarities to ketamine. While it is incredibly potent, unless someone, even a normal person, receives a massive overdose of it in which it depresses their system so much that it just shuts down, it will simply paralyze them, leaving someone aware but unable to move."

"What about its effect on us?" Harry asked

"At low doses, completely negligible. At higher doses it will slow you until your system cycles it out. Though that will likely happen quite rapidly." Sarah explained with certainty. "It would take a truly massive dose to put you down for any length of time."

Harry nodded, "Good to know. After we take out the werewolves, the spiders need to be our next ste-"

"I don't like this." Sarah said with a sigh, as she snapped her notebook closed suddenly and emphatically.

Both Harry and Laura looked up from the map to her at the sudden outburst.

"I've been pretty patient and understanding when it comes to all this. I didn't object as we entered a bank run by _Goblins._ I didn't object to finding out witches ride broomsticks or create potions or that there or werewolves and vampires and centaurs and unicorns and god knows what else," Sarah's voice slowly rose, the stress of the moment getting to her as she waved her hand.

"I didn't object to magical family adoption, or horcruxes, which belong in books written by Tolkien. I didn't object to dead people coming back to life. I didn't object to any of that despite the fact that, as a scientist it drives me nuts," Sarah took the glasses of her face and set them aside as she gestured emphatically, "You're talking about going and fighting against people with magic. That's hard enough for me to accept… but… This isn't just Magic! It's magic you even admit you have no idea what it can do, except by the description you were given, which seems to be summed up by the phrase 'damn near anything'!"

"I can't just allow my biological parent's murderer to go free. Not when I know what he is truly capable of," Harry's response was quiet, but there was steel behind it.

That seemed to take the wind out of Sarah's sails as she put a hand to her forehead. "I know… I know… I just… You're talking about fighting giant spiders and… and… werewolves! It's Magic! It's… I'm sorry. It's just... It's all becoming real. I can't lose you both. Not again."

Laura moved over to her mother and hugged her from the side.

"Laura can stay with you. I can do this. She doesn't need to be put at risk," Harry said quietly, a gentle urging in his voice.

"No!" Laura immediately protested. "You're not going alone."

She turned to look up at her mother with an apologetic expression on her face after her outburst.

Sarah met her daughter's eyes, bright green and so identical to her own, and somehow so like Harry's as well. She took a deep breath before straightening up, though she didn't relinquish the hold on her daughter's waist.

"No. Laura's right," Sarah shook her head. "We're family. You're not doing this alone. I just wish I was capable of being there with you."

Harry nodded slowly. "Well, the good news is that the EMP-proofed headsets still seem to work in the area, albeit with a bit of distortion."

Sarah nodded, that was better than nothing. She couldn't see the area, although they had the area completely mapped with pictures that let her see the true lay of the land. She wasn't a combatant. But at least she could keep an eye on children remotely.

Harry saw her smile and nodded "We have six days to the full moon. I want to get in two days beforehand to be quiet in case they happen to keep an eye on the area."

Laura slowly grinned, "That gives us four days to prepare the area if we do it carefully."

Harry's grin was eerily identical, "I want it to be a night they don't forget… If they manage to survive."

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

"Sounds like the information was accurate," Laura's voice floated over his earpiece quietly.

"Sounds like it," responded Harry. "No visual yet."

"They sound closer to the forest on my side," Laura's voice responded.

"Copy. Making my way to your position X." Harry responded. They had gone back to familiar call signs while in the field. Laura was obscured by a bit of debris on the remains of a roof from what had likely been a tavern or an inn. Harry began moving within the shadows to get himself closer to her position.

There was a brief pause as he moved, before Laura's voice came back over the com, "Spare, I have visua- strike that. I have a human emerging from the forest. Female. Teens. Movement indicates significant injury."

"What?" Sarah's voice came across their earpieces.

"She's fleeing in this direction," Laura's voice was calm and factual on the headsets. "ETA Ninety seconds."

She didn't say anything else, knowing it wasn't needed as she felt the shift in the air as Harry arrived in the hiding space near to her. He didn't join her on the roof, habit ingrained into them both knowing that if anyone was watching that would easily give away their positions. He had leapt up to a portion of the second floor and peered out the jagged hole that used to be a window.

"I have visual on werewolves now," Laura said quietly. "They are in pursuit."

"It could be a trap," Sarah's voice came over the com system in warning.

"Possible, but unlikely. I can smell the fear on her from here," Harry responded.

"They're hunting her," Laura observed as the wolves easily closed the distance.

There was a scream as one of the werewolves caught up to the girl and swiped at her legs. The girl let out a cry of pain as she tumbled to the ground.

Harry and Laura both watched and waited for the inevitable. To their surprise, rather than pouncing on the injured girl. The lead wolf stopped, forcing the wolves behind him to stop as well. The hunters merely waited for their prey to give them better sport and entertainment.

The girl staggered to her feet again, and once more began to try and flee, this time just managing a slower haggard limp from the injury.

The lead werewolf let her go, and a growl from the lead stopped one of the others who moved forward as if to pounce on her retreating form.

"They're not hunting her. They're just torturing her by hurting her and letting her get away. It's a game to them," Harry stated quietly there was a growl in his voice. He glanced towards the castle, and realized something, "It's as much torture for the girl as it is those on the walls."

He turned back and watched as the girl approached the ruined town, although the werewolves still didn't approach. No one said anything as they observed. Harry knew Sarah wanted to but had learned that they would communicate information when they could, not always when it was convenient.

"X, you remember all those retrieve, protect, and evade drills we ran against one another?" Harry asked as he watched the pack began to inch forward, clearly waiting on a signal.

"Yes," was Laura's short response.

"We're going to run one of those. Your objective is to grab the girl," Harry ordered.

"And do what with her?" Sarah's voice finally came over the communicator. There was more than a hint of both relief and pride in her voice but it was nearly obscured by the concern there.

"If she's injured she'll never make it back through the forest," Laura observed calmly, not objecting.

"Take her up to the castle. Drop her inside, or at the front gates if they won't open up," Harry said.

"Copy," Laura said tightly.

Harry watched as the girl made it to the outskirts of the village, not far from their location. He watches as the werewolves tensed up to move again.

"Now!" he growled tightly as he leapt out of the window.

Laura jumped with him, travelling further out than he did, by dint her of lighter frame and higher vantage point as they sprinted the forty yards to the girl.

Laura wasted no time, in moving to the injured girl. The injured girl didn't seem to realize what was happening and struggled for all of half a second before a precise blow to her neck rendered her unconscious and Laura had her up in a fireman's carry, already turning and sprinting away.

The werewolves were so caught off guard by the sudden appearance of two people and the interruption of their fun, that Laura was already running away before they reacted. The pack as a whole looked toward the biggest werewolf in front for guidance.

He stalked forward, his large loping strides covering the ground quickly, coming to a stop in front of the much more interesting prey. He wasn't concerned with the idea the other girl would get away, his pack would get them. He half roared and half howled at the human who seemed so foolish standing there, without even a wand raised to try and protect himself.

Harry didn't say anything, he merely stared up at the wolf who had stopped ten yards away. He didn't react as the pack slowly moved to encircle him

The large werewolf let out a growl and immediately a dozen wolves surged forward sprinting toward Harry, though clearly diverting around him, while a larger group, one Harry noted was closer to two dozen swarmed toward him.

"Clear," Laura's voice came over the headset.

Harry grinned up at the werewolves charging him and without shifting anything more than turn his hand pressed a button on a remote he had palmed the moment Laura had reached the girl.

The world around them… exploded.

It wasn't just one explosion it was several, dozens going one after another. The werewolves hadn't expected anything of the sort so were caught flat footed A second time that night, but this second time would prove fatal for them.

The ones who hadn't slowed their charge toward Harry had no time to react when metal claws unsheathed from Harry's hands and with a snarl of his own he leaped forward toward the group of werewolves in front of him.

The fading echoes of the sound of the explosions were quickly replaced by howls of pain from werewolves.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

Albus Dumbledore was in his office in one of the towers of Hogwarts, staring out at the night sky. He wanted to appreciate the night sky, as it was clear and stars twinkled in the darkness. But he couldn't. He was looking out and seeing the full moon above them. He knew what that meant.

Almost like clockwork there was the sound of clunking coming up the stairs open at the moment to his office. "The packs are out in force again, Albus."

Moody's voice filled the room without preamble. Albus didn't turn around to regard him, he merely stared outside from his window continuing his vigil on the night sky.

"Have there been any encounters at the walls?" Albus asked.

"Not tonight, at least not yet. The night is young. We've got people stationed across the walls keeping an eye out," Moody answered. It was a familiar back and forth, a conversation the two of them had had multiple times.

Albus nodded, and let silence fall for nearly a minute before asking quietly "Any sign he's planning on making an appearance tonight?"

"No, no sign of Death Eaters out there tonight," Moody answered promptly.

"It has been months since he's shown himself here on a full moon," Albus observed.

"Probably has something to do with the fact that last time the bastard did that with Death Eaters in tow, Ol' Greyback couldn't control all his pack and a few Death Eaters got themselves bitten before he took control again," Moody replied with something like grim amusement in his voice.

"The pack may now be growing too large for Greyback to control." Albus answered. "That might be something we can exp-"

He cut himself off as out the window he had been staring out, a whole section of area in the distance suddenly burst out in bright flames.

"By Merlin…" he breathed.

"What is it?" Moody demanded even as he stomped forward to be brought up short as he saw the inferno that seemed to be cover an area some distance away from the castle.

Even as Moody tried to form a thought, a patronus leaped into the room, it was the familiar patronus of a cat, "Albus, something is happening in the Hogsmeade ruins, they're in flames!"

Albus glanced at Moody, before he called out, "Fawkes!"

The bird immediately appeared on his shoulder, and then disappeared out with both himself and Moody a moment later. They reappeared on the wall above near the Hogwarts gates and the path up to the castle. His appearance in flame drew the attention of several people on the wall who were all staring at the fires in the area where Hogsmeade had once stood.

Dumbledore looked around, noticing that _everyone's_ attention was on the explosion. He raised his wand and let out a canon blast before putting a wand to his throat and with a wandless _sonorus_ called out, "Quickly, focus on the perimeter. In case this is a distraction!"

Dumbledore was already scanning the area for any sort of disruption. The defenses of Hogwarts were second to none and the most powerful in the world.

Voldemort had been trying to get through them since he'd returned. He hadn't been successful. But he was Albus Dumbledore's most brilliant student. Albus was not willing to bet against him figuring out a way past and they now maintained a guard.

"Albus, the path." Moody said loudly catching his attention.

His eyes moved to the path to the gates and he saw a figure moving quickly in a full sprint up toward the gate. It only took him a moment to make out the figure was a person and carrying something… or someone it appeared over their shoulder.

Albus eyes widened in surprised at the figure's speed especially if they were bogged down by heavy weight.

The figure had made it about two thirds of the way to the gate when something burst from the forest behind her, from the same direction of the village.

"Werewolves! Four… no, six of them!" It only took Albus a moment to verify Moody's claim as they were clearly chasing the figure.

Albus' eyes picked out that the small figure running toward seemed to be female, carrying another in a fireman's lift over her shoulder, clearly somehow outrunning the werewolves in pursuit behind her. His mind absently marveled at that little fact, as he wasn't quite sure how the girl could possibly accomplish such a feat, even with magic somehow augmenting her legs.

Without a word he line of sight apparated down to just inside the front gates. Apparition within Hogwarts an exclusive privilege of being headmaster. It was one he didn't use too often, not wanting to rub it in the faces of the groups of witches and wizards who sought refuge there and were used to apparating everywhere, but now couldn't. However there were times, like now where hurting people's feelings were secondary to necessary expediency.

He peered through the gate, even as he ignored the shouts and rush of feet as several people sprinted to join him.

The person carrying the body rushed to the gate.

Albus was stunned to see that the figure was a girl, and a young girl at that, fourteen or fifteen perhaps, at least if he had to wager.

The girl set her burden down in front of the gate with surprising gentleness before she looked up at him, "She needs medical attention to survive."

Albus received another shock as he looked down into emerald eyes, into an expression that was as calm as her voice, there was no trace of panic in either. He didn't have time to form words as the girl did the last thing he expected her to do.

She turned around, and started running in the other direction _toward_ the rapidly advancing group of werewolves who were closing rapidly.

"Wait… what are you-?" Dumbledore called out as she ran. When he saw her running toward the werewolves, seemingly intent on sacrificing herself, he made his decision, ignoring a protest from behind him. He quickly opened the gate and stepped out.

After a quick detection spell for curses to make sure the injured and unconscious girl wasn't a magical trap of some sort. He levitated the injured and bloody girl into the safety of Hogwarts as he refocused on the werewolves, expecting the grisly sight of the girl dead or dying as the werewolves ripped her apart.

What he saw took several moments in his head to compute.

One of the werewolves was on the ground twitching and convulsing, either dying or dead, Dumbledore wasn't sure which.

Another, seemed to have lost his head somehow, the errant drooling muzzle flipping end over end as its body continued in another direction falling to the grown into a sprawl. The other four were attempting to hit the girl, who moved through the pack of animals with seeming ease.

The young girl leapt and twisted herself from werewolf to werewolf, while blood spurted from the wolves a split second afterwards as she passed each. It took Dumbledore a moment to notice that bright reflective metal blades had sprouted from both of her hands.

He watched as the girl slammed the blades in her hand into the abdomen of one werewolf which howled in agony and then twisted her entire body into the air, using the blades anchored in the mortally wounded wolf as leverage.

She spun her legs and kicked another werewolf in the neck only for that werewolf's throat to erupt in blood as it spun in the air from the kick. The claws in the werewolf's abdomen drug around its chest as she used her momentum to cut it open.

One of the werewolves attempted to leap at her back, but she didn't seem to stop moving, and seemed to know it was coming as she disengaged from the werewolf whose chest she had just mangled. She threw herself into a roll on the snow covered ground, the swiping claws of the werewolf unable to change the range of their attack that quickly missed her by a scant few inches. Her claws slashed out with lightning quickness, swiping the back of both of its legs simultaneously in two efficient swipes causing the beast to collapse with another howl of impotent pain and rage as it tumbled to the ground.

It attempted to get back up but its legs seemed like it just wouldn't support its weight.

One of the werewolves seemed to realize that it was in danger and turned to flee the carnage. That drew the attention of the girl and in one bound, the girl leapt onto its back, her hand claws digging into the flesh of its shoulders from behind. She twisted her body upon throwing it to the ground, despite its larger bulk.

Once brought to heel, she again used her anchored hands as leverage twisting and slicing through the muscles in the shoulders, causing the arms to suddenly flop as if they had lost all tension. However it didn't matter because she pulled back and stabbed the werewolf again through the back of the neck causing it to instantly go still.

She pushed herself away and moved over to the werewolf whose legs she had sliced the legs of. It was trying to move with just its arms, but she leapt over it and jammed the claws into the side of its neck, and then forward, half decapitating it and causing it to collapse as well, shaking and scrambling for several seconds before those movements stopped and it became just twitches and spasms as blood quickly spilled into the snow beneath it.

She looked around at the now six unmoving werewolves.

Dead werewolves.

Albus glanced back at the gate to see several people had pushed through, wands out and were staring at the carnage in mute disbelief. Dumbledore turned back toward the young woman, he was no less shocked but was able to control it better. He slowly moved to approach her, though not wanting to get too close.

She seemed to ignore him, despite facing the group. She said nothing to him, and instead placed a finger to her ear and tapped once, "X to Spare, objective completed. Over."

There was a pause of confusion before Dumbledore moved closer "Are you alright, young lady?" Albus asked cautiously.

She shifted slightly, keeping him in her vision and watching him cautiously though she didn't answer him, tapping her ear again reiterating her previous statement more forcefully, "X to Spare, Objective Completed. Please Respond."

After a few more moments of silence, she visibly frowned, then tapped her ear again. "Control, I have no response. Investigating his last position."

Without a second glance to the growing group of wizards, the girl turned and ran at speed towards the direction she had originally came from. Not once acknowledging the call of a few of Albus' companions, and himself could not help but shout himself.

"Wait… where are you going?" he called out, reaching out with his hand as if she could stop her. He briefly considered trying to stop her but realized he didn't know enough about her and was smarter than to attack someone without any sort of provocation.

Dumbledore moved quickly, with a speed that belied his age. He turned to the stunned wizards at the gate.

He was relieved to note that Poppy Pomfrey was not looking his way, instead both she and the apprentice she had taken under her wing a few years prior, Miss Delacour, focused on the injured and bleeding girl that had been dropped on them.

"Albus?" Minerva started to speak up, only to be cut off.

"Poppy, how is she?" Albus demanded.

"She's hurt pretty badly, Albus. Several claw injuries and she's lost a lot of blood. Too early to say." Poppy answered her voice distracted as her eyes were completely on the unconscious girl in front of her. "The only good news I see is that it's all claws, and no bites. She shouldn't turn if we save her."

"Okay, take her to the infirmary when you can," Dumbledore turned to Mcgonagall, "Take two others to the infirmary to keep an eye on her, if anything feels or seems off to you, stun first, and ask questions later."

Minerva simply nodded in response to the command in his voice.

He turned to walk out of the gate, "Where do you think you're going Albus?" Mcgonagall's voice cut through enough to cause him to pause.

"Whatever is happening is over near the ruins of Hogsmeade, and I'm going to investigate," he stated.

"It could be a trap." Moody interjected.

"Yes it could. But I don't think so," Dumbledore answered, then turned back to Moody, "At least, I don't think this is a trap for us."

He sighed, "Either way something is happening, and I don't think Voldemort planned for it. We must see if we can capitalize on this in some manner. If for no other reason than the morale boost for our forces."

"I'm coming with you," Moody said in a tone that brooked no arguments.

"Me too," a younger voice spoke up. Charlie Weasley stepped forward. He had been on the gate.

"Alright. We'll go." Albus said, " _Just_ the three of us." He commanded cutting off the other volunteering from the crowd that he knew was coming. If something happened Fawkes could get three of them out if it became necessary.

"Filius, keep the watchers on the wall at high alert. Send me a patronus if you see anything that seems suspicious," he ordered. He waited for a nod from the diminutive part-goblin before he stepped out of the gate once more.

Once outside of the gate, he glanced back at Moody and Charlie Weasley, "I will apparate us to the Shrieking Shack. Be on your guard and use your emergency portkey to get back at the first sign this might be a trap." his voice was firm, and no-nonsense as he issued his instructions to the two.

Without another word he reached out, and gripped both men by the shoulders and then twisted and apparated to the hill where the Shrieking Shack stood overlooking the former town of Hogsmeade.

It only took them a second to get to the door and look out over the town, or at least the remains of the town of Hogsmeade. A circle of fire surrounded the area where the town had been, but it was hard to discern anything, though there was the sound of yowling.

With the fires around the town, it offered more light than had been seen in at least a year during the night in the destroyed hamlet. While the damage done by Voldemort to the millennia old historical village could be seen during the day in its full grisly detail, illuminated like it was now at night made the whole thing look ten times worse.

Of course the fact that most of the town seemed ablaze probably added to that effect.

Dumbledore moved forward carefully, his wand held at the ready, he was flanked by Charlie Weasley and Alastor Moody.

None had any idea what they'd find.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

Harry grunted as he slammed into the ground before he rolled back onto his feet, snarling. He didn't hesitate at all to dash forward again and re-engage his foe.

There were dead or dying bodies, and pieces of bodies lying all around them as the fires from the prepared explosives continued to burn. He was currently engaging the largest of any of the werewolves who was giving him a harder time than the others.

This one seemed far less mindless rabid beast than the others. The werewolf that had been larger than his peers was covered in slashes and blood as he attempted to avoid Harry's charge.

Harry clearly wasn't without injury himself. His clothes were in tatters and had been shredded quickly, leaving him in boots and shorts that had formerly been pants.

He was bare from the waist up save for the remnants of a sleeve near his right wrist. He was covered in blood and his body still showed gouges and furrows in the flesh. There was even one slash near his throat over his collarbone where metal coating his bones showed through the wound. Though the wounds were closing, some were doing so far more slowly than others.

Harry slashed at the werewolf again. It used its larger size, towering over seven feet and its longer reach to try and keep Harry at arm's length.

But Harry could easily see the panic in the creature as he continually drove the werewolf backward in a circle. It was looking for a way to end the fight or retreat, and neither was an option Harry was prepared to allow.

Harry saw something out of the corner of his eye and shifted, feinting to the left and then telegraphing his move as he clearly prepared to jolt forward in a low slash.

The werewolf shifted as it prepared to follow his move when it suddenly collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

As the werewolf collapsed, Harry watched for a moment and then stood up straight as Laura nimbly leaped from its back and sheathed her claws from where they were buried between the wolf's shoulder blades.

"Control, I've rendezvoused with Spare. All Objectives complete," Laura said as she moved to Harry's side quickly taking a moment to look him over as closely as she could under the blood.

"I was trying to take him alive so that he could answer questions…" Harry said bemusedly.

"He's still breathing." Laura observed, turning to look at the wolf. "I was aiming to hit him between the c4 and c5 vertebrae. He'll still be able to answer questions."

"He's not human, biology could be different," Harry commented, not sounding overly upset.

"Well then _maybe_ he'll be able to answer questions," she shrugged and then reached up and tapped her ear while looking at him, "No radio?"

Harry reached up to touch the side of his head, sheathing his claws as he did and scowled, "It must have gotten knocked out when one of them hit me."

Laura reached up and tapped the side of her ear, "We're both here. Spare is fine, he just lost his radio."

"I'm fine. Spare… is gonna need some new clothes," she said after a pause, in response to the question with a trace of amusement.

Harry opened his mouth to reply when he sensed it, a change in the wind pattern causing both himself and X-23 to turn and see a part of the smoke disappear and the flames die out. A section of the burning area extinguished as if the oxygen had been sucked away and three men stepped in, looking around.

All three men had looks of disbelief on their faces. Harry blinked several times as he recognized one of the men clearly from the memories that he had acquired.

Albus Dumbledore.

The second one looked vaguely familiar, and he had no idea who the third one was. However he shifted into a defensive stance with Laura shifting slightly beside him, presenting a lower profile. In the half a moment it had taken the two of them to react like that, Dumbledore had focused on the two of them, "Who are you?"

Harry was wary, he had gotten the memories of the thing in his head, though hadn't lived them, it was more like the reading of a book. Tom Riddle hated Albus Dumbledore with a passion. He also feared the man.

The Goblins had also said that Dumbledore was essentially standing between Voldemort and domination of the wizarding world.

That didn't take away Harry's caution, just kept him from outright paranoia about the man. But at the moment, the three were holding weapons at them. That swung his emotions back toward paranoia.

The three of them stared at the carnage around them, fires burning into the night with large gouges in the ground showing the aftermath of the initial explosions. Their eyes then started to trace the bodies of werewolves that were lying all over the place. All of them dead, and most in pieces clearly showing forms of evisceration. There was easily over two dozen bodies. Their eyes traced around then to slowly focus on Harry and Laura where they stood.

"Who're you?" demanded Moody, his wand already leveled at them. The young man in front of him was covered nearly head to toe in blood and showed clear evidence of wounds that should have him crying for a medic, and instead he looked prepared to fight.

Harry straightened a little bit, a growl escaping his throat at the overt threat. He prepared to move, but showed no other sign of it, instead he narrowed his eyes, "I think we should be asking you that question." he retorted.

"Alastor," Dumbledore's voice was sharp.

"Albus-" Alastor started only to be cut off by a gesture from the older wizard.

Albus stepped forward slowly, his wand pointed at the ground as he gestured with his free hand, "If you're injured, we have an infirmary that can help you."

Harry glanced down at the gouges in his flesh that were healing albeit slowly. At least far slower than he was used to. His injuries were hard to see under the ash, dirt and blood from his enemies. He glanced at Laura who said nothing, clearly allowing him to take the lead. "No, thank you. I'll be okay…"

He glanced around and then down at the only breathing werewolf left.

"Do you have someplace we can secure this dog?" Harry asked, scruffing a foot in the dirt next to the large werewolf.

"For what purpose?" Albus asked cautiously, allowing the young man to lead the conversation. Neither had made threats, overt or otherwise so he was prepared to allow a little leeway.

Harry looked up, "I have some questions I want answered. I don't fancy waiting around out here until he wakes up."

There was a sudden curse from the redhead who was standing warily behind the elder wizard, "Dumbledore, that's Greyback!" He stomped forward angrily only to be jerked back by Moody's arm on his.

Albus looked sharply at the man-wolf lying insensate on the ground, his gaze searching as he realized the truth of the younger man's words. He nodded slowly in response to the redhead's comment, before focusing on the young man in front of him, "We do have dungeon space we can use."

"Alright. That works." Harry said. Then he leaned down and with a grunt of exertion, grabbed the arm of the werewolf and then shifted, with a grunt of effort, pulled him up and over his shoulders. "X, if he so much as makes a move. Put him down again."

"Copy," Laura said as she shifted around, her eyes now darting back and forth between Harry and the other three.

"If I may…" Dumbledore ventured.

Harry and Laura looked up at him. He raised his wand and they both tensed.

Noting this and filing the fact away in the back of his mind for dissection later, Dumbledore explained, "I was simply going to levitate him so you didn't have to carry him."

There was a brief hesitation before Harry nodded once. Dumbledore waved his wand and there was a blanket that was suddenly conjured on the ground. "Set him on that." The elder wizard directed.

Harry shifted and rolled the unconscious wolf onto the blanket with only a brief moment of hesitation. Another gesture from Dumbledore's wand and the blanket lifted, holding the werewolf in the air.

"Huh, that's convenient." Harry muttered.

"Werewolves are resistant to magic as a rule. Part of what makes them so fearsome. It's easier to just levitate the blanket." Dumbledore explained slowly, his brow pursed as he looked at the two clearly trying to figure out what to make of them. It was fairly common knowledge about werewolves, and the two showed… strange reactions to magic.

There was a pause as the five seemed to just stand there waiting for someone to make a move.

"Lead on?" Harry ventured after a moment. "I want my questions asked. Moving him to a more convenient place is helpful, although it just means it's going to take me longer to get my answers. Not that I can question him if he's completely paralyzed." He muttered the last bit with a glance over at Laura. He really wasn't overly upset but he hoped the injury wasn't too serious for them to get answers.

"Sorry," she replied in a tone that said she was anything but.

Albus nodded slowly and turned to walk through the gap they had created, he noticed that both strangers refused to leave their back completely unguarded. Moody attempted to walk behind and Laura just slowed, quite blatantly waiting until he started moving again to begin her own movement. They came to a reluctant truce, without speaking words, the two walking side by side at the same pace, shooting frequent glances over at once another.

Albus was no fool, he realized there was an abundance of caution here. They hadn't acted like they were enemies but the old wizard had no idea if they were allies. Though he was relatively certain that they were not plants by Voldemort as he doubted the wizard would have sacrificed so many werewolves, in order to attempt something of this nature.

Especially the alpha werewolf, Greyback.

Dumbledore was no fool, he was well aware Fenrir Greyback's usefulness to the Dark Lord would end one day. But by the same coin, the werewolves were an amazing intimidation device at the moment, and not one that would be sacrificed needlessly, especially like this, decimating the entire wolf pack and leaving the Alpha himself, the only one who likely held any strategic information at all, alive.

Still the Headmaster hoped to find out more about the incredibly dangerous strangers so the headmaster didn't waste the opportunity to ask questions. "I'm sorry for my rudeness but we have not been introduced, I'm Albus Dumbledore."

"Yes, we've heard," Laura opined from where she walked behind them, a few feet from Moody.

"And this is Charlie Weasley," Albus said gesturing to the man who alternated between looking back and forth at Harry and Laura and glaring at Greyback's unconscious form.

"And the gentleman who refuses to let you get behind him is Alastor Moody," Albus said with a gesture to the man whose eye seemed to be constantly moving both at the people there as they made their way back to the castle and to the area around alert for any attack.

Harry glanced back, but didn't stop, clearly trusting Laura to have his back. "I'm called Spare, and X-23, or X for short at the moment is the one that refuses to let him get behind her. She's my sister," he introduced them.

He was uncertain why he decided to add that last bit of information on to his statement, but as it felt good to introduce one another as family, they had fallen into such a habit of it, it was a bit difficult to break. The names and familial relationship mentioned just caused Albus to raise his eyebrows but he didn't question or comment on it.

"Interesting names…" Moody muttered.

"You're one to talk, Mad-eye Moody." Charlie couldn't resist commenting to the grizzled old auror.

Harry glanced back and a brief smirk crossed his face, though he didn't say anything. Information about Alastor Moody filtering into his mind from the memories there.

Laura had no such qualms about commenting, glancing over at the man before nodding in satisfaction, "Fitting."

Dumbledore glanced at Harry's form, still shirtless and covered in blood, clearly showing effects of injuries. "Are you sure you're alright?" he ventured, changing the topic.

He would have asked more quickly, but the youth showed no effect of any injuries. Though he also didn't seem to be affected by the cold January night and being barely clothed either.

Harry glanced down, he could feel some of his wounds still slowly knitting, though given all the blood, organs, ash and dirt he was covered with, it was hard to tell. "Yeah, nothing a quick shower won't fix."

"Messy," X-23 commented dryly from behind him.

"There were a lot of them." Harry shot back defensively as he ran a hand through his hair. .

"Hmph." Laura replied, with a distinctly smug sound. "I took six and didn't get a scratch while running the package to the gate. Plus I took down that one while you were dancing with it."

Dumbledore noted the interaction between the two. The group walked in silence, hoping the lack of discussion might get the two newcomers to talk. Dumbledore knew from long experience that young people didn't deal well with silence and tended to fill quiet patches with chatter that might let things slip.

Unfortunately, the two did not seem bothered at all by the quietness.

Of course the same couldn't be said for his compatriots.

"What are you going to do with Greyback?" Charlie Weasley asked, his voice strained.

Harry glanced back, "I'm going to get answers to some questions."

"Veritaserum doesn't work on werewolves." Charlie replied.

"I have no idea what that is," Harry replied, feigning ignorance.

"It's a powerful potion that forces anyone who ingests it to tell the truth." Albus supplied.

"Interesting," Harry responded thoughtfully.

"But as we said, it doesn't work on werewolves," Charlie replied as they continued walking past the shrieking shack.

"We have alternative methods," Harry replied.

"Are you sure he'll talk?" Moody inquired.

"He'll talk." Laura interjected. There was such surety in her voice that none there doubted her.

Dumbledore allowed silence to fill the night once more, and when he realized that neither of the two strangers were going to volunteer to fill it, he realized he had to be the one to speak up. He desperately wanted a great number of questions answered. "So, if you don't mind me asking, why did you attack the werewolves?"

"As I said, to get some answers." Harry replied. He looked around suspiciously before wiping a hand in front of his mouth and murmuring, loud enough for Dumbledore to hear. "Not secure. Don't want to be overheard."

Harry had no idea if people were listening. He doubted it, but advertising your plans in the open was just asking for trouble.

Dumbledore hummed quietly, a glance back at Moody told him the man certainly approved of that approach.

Charlie spoke up again as they continued walking, "What are you going to do with him after you finish asking him questions?"

Harry glanced over at the redhead then raised his shoulder in a half shrug, but it was Laura who spoke up. "You hate him. What did he do to you?"

Charlie turned to regard her angrily, as if he couldn't believe she asked that question. She met his gaze levelly and without flinching until he looked away, clearly taking a breath to calm himself. "He killed my father and my older brother. Attacked them in Diagon Alley."

That caused silence to fall over the group for several moments as they came in sight of the gates to Hogwarts.

"Once he has outlived his usefulness, he will be eliminated," Harry said quietly, leading to another long pause.

"If you would like, we can leave the task to you, or a member of your family," Laura said quietly.

Harry glanced back at her with a look of scrutiny, a gaze she met steadily before he turned to continue his walk, not countermanding the comment. Charlie seemed to consider that comment as he lapsed into silence and walked forward mostly on autopilot.

As they approached the gate, Harry watched with interest as Dumbledore raised his wand and a silver spell shot out, taking the form of some sort of bird he had never seen before.

The silver bird flew to the top of the gate, a quite impressive height, Harry could hear with his enhanced hearing Dumbledore's voice emerge saying, "We've returned, we have guests. Open the gate and clear a path to the dungeons."

There was a brief pause and the gate opened up a few seconds later. Harry followed Dumbledore's lead and blinked his eyes in surprise, inside the gate and wall was a long bridge. A quick exchanged glance with Laura told him that she was thinking the same thing. They had seen bits and pieces of it from afar as they had scouted the area, but seeing it in person was a whole different experience.

Given that the protections stopped any sort of aerial assault, a large ground assault would be incredibly costly to any invasion force. There over two hundred yards of bridge, with minimal cover. Any invading force could easily get shredded upon approach to the castle grounds in front of them.

Dumbledore didn't seem to notice their brief exchange of looks, continuing onward. It wasn't like the bridge was a secret. He was well aware that Voldemort knew Hogwarts like the back of his hand.

Filius rushed up to them as they crossed the bridge. "Albus, wha-" he cut himself off. First as he stared at a shirtless teenager, covered in ash dirt and blood, and then as he found himself staring at the lolling head of a werewolf floating in the air on a blanket.

"Filius, could you clear a path to the dungeons? I'd rather not be stopped as we head down there." Albus asked as he didn't break stride. "I'd do it myself but we're in a bit of a rush, as I have no interest in allowing Fenrir Greyback to regain consciousness without having him properly confined."

Filius squeaked at the mention of Greyback before he turned and ran ahead of them with determination. Harry and Laura were both looking around with interest as they walked up another green pasture like area, toward another set of walls and gates.

There were tents everywhere, fires going by tents, and people. Moving between the tents. Some were concerned with their own things, but a great many of them were looking toward Dumbledore and his entourage with undisguised interest. There were easily hundreds of people visible, and the concentrated smells from people packed in close quarters living there for an extended period of time hinted that the number present within the castle may number in the thousands.

Dumbledore paid them no mind as they headed toward the castle. They entered through the gates there. As Laura and Harry entered the main doors, they saw a large hall in front of them with tables lining it, where people seemed to be eating, but Dumbledore immediately veered left.

The two of them were careful as they walked down the stairs, keeping their focus on the people around them, though more than once both Harry and Laura found themselves risking glances around at portraits that moved, statues that seemed to turn their heads to follow them, and other oddities, including a stairway that moved as they walked past it.

It was a bit of walking until Dumbledore lead them through a thick metal door and then held up a hand to stop them. "One moment," the older man asked as he floated the werewolf into an open space in the room surrounded by three walls.

After floating the werewolf into the space, thick bars shot up from the floor with a wave of Dumbledore's wand, essentially creating a cell. The cell wasn't exceptionally small, and based on the multiple indentations of the walls, there was enough room to hang half a dozen or so people from their arms inside there.

"Now that he's secure, we can get you to the infirmary." Dumbledore turned toward Harry.

"I'm fine," Harry waved the concern off, ignoring looks from the three wizards that had accompanied them from Hogsmeade, as well as Flitwick who had followed them in, looked significantly at his blood and dirt covered form. "Besides, I'm not going anywhere with him there."

"He is not getting out of there." Albus responded, "The bars are unbreakable."

Harry snorted in derision, "Not the first time I've heard that someone believes something magical is unbreakable."

Dumbledore shook his head, "No matter how strong Greyback may be, I can assure you those bars are-"

 _Snikt._

There was a brief blur as Laura spun around, drawing everyone's attention. There was a soft 'ting' of metal impacting metal and then a 'schlikt.' They all stared at her for several seconds as she had returned to her arms crossed pose.

Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something, but Laura moved her elbow bumping the bar beside her.

A section of the bar in the middle about a foot long toppled over, hitting the ground with a clang.

That froze everyone there, as they stared at the length of bar, and then at the space where it came from the prison.

"Clearly, we have different definitions of unbreakable." Laura said, examining her nails idly.

Harry looked at the metal bar on the ground, struggling not to smirk at his sister's actions and then at Dumbledore with nothing more than a twitch in the corner of his mouth as he looked at the older man expectantly. .

Dumbledore looked from X-23 down to the bar and then to Harry. He raised his wand and the bar floated back into place sealing as if it had never been cut. Then he waved his wand, sending a silver spell out of the room.

Harry turned back to regard the still unmoving form of the werewolf lying on the ground.

"Do you have smelling salts?" Harry asked.

"I… don't know that they would be effective on a werewolf." Dumbledore replied after a moment's consideration.

"How long until he changes back then?" Harry asked with a trace of irritation.

"The change tends to come back close to dawn." Dumbledore answered.

"Well, at least that's not far off." Laura muttered before the two lapsed into silence.

"Who are you?" Dumbledore finally demanded.

"We already gave you names to call us." Harry replied flatly.

"The names we've gone by for years," added Laura helpfully.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Dumbledore waved his hand, "I mean…" he trailed off, uncertain how to phrase his question.

"They're soldiers, Albus," Moody spoke up, his gruff voice harsh as he leaned on the staff he held.

Neither Harry nor Laura reacted to that comment beyond turning to look at him.

"Not like any I've ever seen though," Moody moved away from the wall and thumped up to Harry.

"I saw the way she took out six werewolves." Moody gestured to X-23 and his false eye spun wildly though his real eye focused on Harry's expression. "I see the way you both move. Watching each other's backs, tense and prepared to move. Even now, you both stand on opposite sides of the room, enough distance apart that any conventional attack won't get both of you."

"You stand there covered in blood, gore, shit, piss, ash and Merlin knows what else, and don't seem to be bothered in the slightest," Moody stated as he stared into Harry's eye. A stare Harry met unflinchingly.

Moody's voice was raising in volume and intensity, "The two of you come out of nowhere and attack werewolves, something that no one in their right mind does not when they're in packs anyway. And do so _successfully_ , and-"

"And we are understandably curious about where the pair of you came from." Dumbledore cut the other man off, his voice far more genial than Moody's had been though no less firm.

Moody may have let Dumbledore cut him off but he didn't stop his stare down of the teen in front of him.

"So… I'm confused, are you mad that you don't know where we came from, or are you mad that we accomplished more to strike against a Dark Lord in one night of work than you have in months?" Harry asked, not breaking his gaze from Moody's.

"Neither!"

"Both!"

Dumbledore and Moody's conflicting answered caused the two to look at one another before Moody finally looked away from Harry's unflinching gaze. He stepped back, thumping angrily back to stand against the wall.

"Well, thanks for clearing that up," Harry said dryly.

Anything further was interrupted as the door to the dungeon opened, a young woman with silver blonde hair stepped inside the room.

Dumbledore looked up, "Miss Delacour, I take it Poppy is otherwise occupied?"

"Oui, she is trying to heal some of the damage to the young woman dropped here tonight," the obviously French woman responded.

Her eyes widened slightly as she finally took in the rest of the occupants, her eyes settling on Harry.

She immediately moved forward, closer to Harry, pulling out her wand to wave it, only for Harry to spin away from the wall to the other side of the room. He suddenly was crouched down slightly, and the room suddenly was tense.

"Fleur is a healer, she is only going to check to make sure you're okay." Dumbledore explained, looking back and forth, the older teen was crouched and tense. The younger one, hadn't so much as shifted position but there was something far more… dangerous about her now.

"No thanks. I've said I'm fine," Harry said slowly. "Repeatedly."

"Don't be ridiculous, you look like you were playing in a campfire. I'm just going to examine-" Fleur responded, striding forward toward him once more and raising her wand.

 _Snikt._

Only to freeze as she found herself staring at three metal claws sticking out from his knuckles, the tips inches from her throat.

Dumbledore and Charlie had their wands out pointed at Harry who had only stepped forward two steps but now was clearly making his point.

However, Fleur didn't miss the female in the room, one who she had honestly not paid attention to at this point, move forward with matching razor sharp blades of her own, these ones poised to disembowel a completely startled Mad-eye Moody who froze as his instincts warned him just how much danger he was in. The grizzled auror, veteran of two wars, and currently embroiled in a third, was caught completely off guard by a girl who probably wasn't old enough to get her apparition license yet.

The entire incident would be worthy of legend, if it wasn't so serious.

"You expect me to stand here doing nothing as an unknown person walks in and points a deadly weapon _in my face_?" Harry asked, his tone was soft and genuinely curious, a complete counterpoint to his tense and aggressive posture.

Dumbledore's tone held a trace of exasperation, "She is a healer, a doctor, she is merely worried about you and wanted to examine you."

"We've met a lot of doctors who said they wanted to examine us. We like exactly one of them." Laura's voice cut into the room. "The rest… well let's say they didn't enjoy their own examinations when we finally had the chance to play doctor ourselves."

Fleur very slowly lowered her wand, watching Harry's expression, with three emotions fighting for prominence on her own face. Shock and fear were there, but so was confusion, which quickly turned to curiosity as she stared at the claws while slowly stepping backward, her hands at her sides, showing no threat.

When she stepped back, and Harry made no move to follow, Dumbledore and Charlie lowered their wands.

Harry remained tense and wary before Laura shifted slightly, stepping away from Moody, her claws going back into her hands with a soft _schlikt_.

"Spare." she spoke getting his attention. Harry's eyes flicked over to her.

"They were just trying to help," she said, brushing a hand through her hair and quickly tapping her ear with her thumb twice as she did.

Harry untensed slightly. His claws making the same _Schlikt,_ sound Laura's had as they slid back into his arms. Before anyone could comment further, or likely chastise Harry for his actions, Harry glanced to Laura who nodded slightly.

He bowed his head slightly to Fleur who was watching him with wary and curious eyes. "Sorry, like I said… bad experiences with doctors and I only trust one," Harry said, his tone only slowing slight apology.

"Well your healer isn't here at the moment, and you need to be checked, especially for bites after encountering werewolves." Dumbledore said, "And you can't just mean to walk around like that until you find your healer again."

Harry opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by Laura who ran a hand through her hair almost absently, "I don't think he is seriously harmed, though his wounds _are_ healing far slower than normal."

"All the more reason for him to be checked out," Dumbledore answered confidently.

"The only one who examines me is our doctor," Harry replied with a note of finality in his voice, though he trailed off slightly as Laura cocked her head to the side very slightly. A clear tell for him that she was listening.

Harry looked at Laura with narrowed eyes, shaking his head no. A movement she ignored as she turned to look at Dumbledore, "If we told you where she is, how long would it take myself to get her and get back?"

"Laura?" Harry blurted and then winced slightly at his own breach, he had just been taken so off guard by her question.

"Their scents, movements and actions show that they have no intention of hurting us. And… she's quite insistent," Laura answered, spreading her hands.

Harry scowled, "We talked about this..."

"And you're outvoted this time," Laura replied with a slight smirk turning expectantly to Dumbledore who hadn't even processed the question to him as he considered their answer. Instead he was watching their interactions.

It took several seconds of her staring at him for him to realize that he had indeed been asked a question.

"I… well, if you know where they are, Fawkes can take you almost anywhere in the world and bring you back… nearly instantaneously," Dumbledore answered, glancing back and forth between the two.

"Fawkes?" Laura asked, curiously.

A moment later there was a burst of flame and the phoenix appeared on Dumbledore's shoulder.

Laura and Harry both started slightly, though Laura muttered, "Magic, right…"

Dumbledore looked at the bird, "Will you take… Laura…to get a healer for our friend here?"

Fawkes nodded once and then with a flap of his wings flew to Laura's shoulder, causing her to stiffen.

"Laura…" Harry said again, with warning in his tone this time.

"Out. Voted." Laura responded with a smirk before starting as she disappeared in a pillar of flame.

"Dammit," Harry cursed, spinning around and kicking the wall in a sign of irritation and frustration.

"What is your objection to being healed by your own healer?" Dumbledore asked mildly.

Harry's eyes flicked up to Dumbledore angrily. "I just don't want her here where she could be in danger."

"Voldemort has been trying off and on to breach the wards for years..." Dumbledore said in his most reassuring tone.

"I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about you," Harry shot back.

Dumbledore looked taken aback. "Me?"

"You or someone who works for you yes." Harry answered. "We just took out most if not all of the werewolves. That's a valuable ally for you to have, and you might try to take our M-healer hostage to try and force us to help you."

"What?! You-" Charlie started to stutter and it was only a held up hand from Dumbledore that stopped him, as he regarded Harry.

"I won't promise not to ask for your help. But I give you my personal oath, on my honor, you and your friend and your healer will be in no danger from me and I will do all within my power to make sure that applies to anyone here." Dumbledore said, his words heavy and firm.

Harry met his eyes for several long seconds before the younger man's shoulder slumped and he looked away.

He had learned not to trust people before, however every one of his senses told him that Dumbledore was being genuine. Breathing, eye movement, body language all told him so. It didn't eliminate his paranoia but it at least removed some of his objections.

There was a flash of fire again and the phoenix returned, this time with two figures in tow.

Laura had returned with two bags in her hand, bags she immediately dropped to the floor with a thunk, and she had brought Sarah as well.

Sarah took a jarring step back, "Well, that's an interesting sensation…"

She shook her head, glancing around, gaze lingering briefly on Dumbledore before settling on Harry. Her eyes narrowed.

"Laura wasn't kidding when she said you were a bit of a mess." Sarah said as she stepped up to Harry her eyes already moving over him, as her fingers began to prod the skin.

Harry rolled his eyes, but dropped his arms to let her examine him, "Yeah well, she had less to deal with and wasn't standing in the middle of the explosions."

Sarah's eyes narrowed as her fingers began to prod lightly at a wound near his collarbone, "I thought you said you knew where to stand and were safe."

"I was… but one of the explosives must have misfired at least once, or fired late because one went off after the others and I wasn't far from it, so I stumbled." Harry shook his head, showing no reaction to Sarah's prodding his wounds. "One of the assholes got its jaw on my ankle and then another got me right where you're prodding!" His voice rising slightly as he shifted underneath the attention.

"You were bitten?" Dumbledore moved forward intently.

"Yeah, three times, another got my arm, but a claw to the eye solved that quickly enough." Harry's reply was almost absent as Sarah lifted the arm he had indicated was bitten, to examine it more closely.

"I'm… sorry." Dumbledore said with a bow of his head.

Harry looked over at him, "Eh? For what?"

"For the curse you now bear," Dumbledore explained in a somber tone.

Sarah's head whipped around to face him, narrowing her eyes, "Curse, what curse?"

Dumbledore hesitated, confusion once more showing on his expression. "He was bitten by a werewolf, starting during the next full moon he'll change into one."

"Oh." Sarah replied, shaking her head, "No, he'll be fine."

"The wound seems to be mending, just far more slowly than usual." Her tone had turned analytical and musing, "Even more slowly than my initial projections of the impact of werewolf saliva. I wonder if that's a product of how fresh the sample was or of some other variable."

"Madam, I-" Dumbledore started to say.

"He's reverting back," Laura said suddenly, getting everyone's attention.

Harry pushed past Sarah toward the prison, to see the large man beginning to shrink. He was also grunting and beginning to stir slowly as his body shifted and twisted back into the form of a very large human male.

Laura looked over at Harry. "I want to get him to talk."

Harry scowled and looked over at Sarah.

She shook her head, "Huh uh, I already showed up here. I'm not mediating a second disagreement so quickly. You two figure this out."

Harry glanced in the prison, before back at Laura. He held out his fist away from his body towards her. "Odds or evens?"

Laura lifted her own fist, "Evens."

Harry nodded, "All Right, 1, 2, 3,"

 _Snikt. Snikt._

Claws once more emerged from their hands, Harry popping just his middle claw, and Laura popping just the claw from her right knuckle.

"Two claws. Even." She grinned triumphantly, resheathing her claws as Harry did the same with a scowl.

She turned to Dumbledore, "Can you let me in please? And, can you get me a chair for in there? I may want to be comfortable while questioning him."

"Wait a sec there. What makes you think you can get him to talk?" Moody demanded, stepping forward, using his larger size to look down on Laura, for once both eyes focused on her.

Laura looked up, meeting his gaze. "I have been trained extensively in how to extract information from all manner of prisoners or targets. I have only failed to extract information from one person."

"To be fair, that was only because it was me, it was a timed exercise and you were told that dismemberment was off the table." Harry interjected, "Besides, if you'll recall, I didn't do any better interrogating you."

Moody was looking back and forth between the two, disbelief showing briefly on his features before they returned to his standard scowl.

Dumbledore however happened to be looking at Sarah when Harry spoke and noticed she flinched and actually turned away when he described the exercise.

Moody's eyes gazed into Laura's for several seconds, before he seemed to realize she wasn't joking. "Alright, since I doubt I could cast the _cruciatus_ long enough or powerful enough to break him… give it a shot girlie."

As the old scarred man moved to the back wall, he chuckled darkly, a cruel smile on his face, "I've always been up for learning new techniques anyways."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to protest, and then shut it once more, remembering exactly what he had seen her do to the werewolves by the gate. Not the least of which she had done to Greyback personally to put him into this position to begin with.

Albus still glanced over at Harry and Sarah as if seeking their permission. Harry nodded, his scowl still set on his face.

"Alright, but… please be careful. He is a crafty and skilled fighter," Dumbledore warned.

"Sir!" Charlie finally interjected, in protest.

The red-head had kept his silence for the most part since they had arrived in the dungeon. Fenrir Greyback was a massive sore spot for him, considering what this man had cost his family.

The fact that these two children were treating the situation so lightly, and had even accused Dumbledore of potentially using this healer… as leverage while kidnapping her to force them to fight had left a massive chip on his shoulders.

Then there was the fact he had never seen people behave like this,

He had kept his peace as these people treated fighting werewolves in hand to hand combat, and sprouted metal claws from their hands, like they were every day events. They even shrugged off multiple werewolf bites without concern. It was all so strange.

And now, with this tiny slip of a girl treating it all like a game, wanting to be the one to question Greyback, he had finally been pushed one step too far..

"That's Fenrir Greyback!" Charlie sputtered.

"Weasley-" Moody started to say only to be cut off by Charlie

"No! You know what he is… what he did! He wasn't a werewolf when he killed my brother and da, but you're going to let a _girl_ step in there with him?" the redhead was clearly irate by the decision.

"Let me? I'm able to decide for myself. I put him on his ass once. I can do it again. However you'll either need to shut up or get out while I'm interrogating him," Laura stated bluntly. "Your emotion and interruptions will just make it more difficult. Sabotage the environment I will be trying to establish."

Harry turned to Dumbledore, since everyone was obviously deferring to the old man for direction, "It would be better if this one left the room… He's likely to do nothing but try to provoke anyone here, and distract us from what we need to accomplish."

"No!" Charlie protested immediately at the prospect of being forced to leave. "I'll stay… I can control myself. I just… she's just a girl."

Moody actually palmed his face at this remark, "I suddenly realize why you always preferred to play with magical creatures and aren't married yet, Weasley."

Charlie's eyes widened and he blanched looking from Laura to Fleur, who was gazing at him with her own discontented expression. He backtracked quickly, "That's… that's not what I meant! I meant that she was so young!"

"My age didn't stop me from killing the werewolves earlier," She replied shortly.

Charlie looked around for support in the room. His gaze going from person to person before his shoulders slumped. "Alright…"

"You'll have to keep quiet during the interrogation or you'll need to leave. Anything you say will just make this more difficult," Laura stated to be clear.

"I'll keep him quiet lass," Charlie scowled but his reply was cut off as Moody put a hand on his arm and pushed him back to the wall. Then to the surprise of everyone, he turned to Dumbledore. "You should go."

Albus started slightly, turning to Moody in surprise, "Alastor, I think that-"

"I know what you're thinking," Moody interrupted with a shake of his head, "But interrogations… aren't an area you really want to delve into if you can help it. Especially when legilimency and veritaserum aren't going to be useful, like now, when it's a werewolf inside the cell."

Dumbledore opened his mouth, once more to argue or protest but Moody barrelled on.

"Albus, I'm relatively certain you don't want to be here for this and won't manage to stop yourself from interrupting. There are some parts of war you don't want any part of, and getting your hands dirty like this isn't your style," Moody stepped forward toward the older wizard, "Go, check on the wall for anything suspicious that might be happening. I'll meet you in your office afterward."

Dumbledore looked between Moody and the unconscious Greyback before he bowed his head. He was forced to admit his friend was right. He was not stupid and had no illusions that an interrogation might be pleasant. His friend was stopping him from getting his hands dirty. "Alright Alastor. I'll go check on the girl brought in as well."

The older wizard moved toward the exit, gesturing Flitwick out ahead of him, glancing around the room once more before turning to leave, shutting the door behind him with a heavy clank.

Laura nodded and moved to stand at the bars before she turned to look at Moody expectantly.

With one more glance at the other two strangers in the room, the legendary Auror conjured the chair she had requested earlier in the prison cell, and vanished the bars in front of Laura, at least briefly. After another moment, he cast another spell on the unconscious werewolf.

She stepped through instantly, and he replaced the bars. Laura looked back briefly at Moody after he cast the spell on the prisoner, who was no longer nude, and now had fabric shorts on.

He did not put his wand back, instead held it at the ready in his hand in case she needed to get out of the cell quickly.

Laura smiled slowly as she approached the prone form lying on the ground.

"Wakey, wakey." she leaned down and lightly smacked the cheek of the now human, though still animalistic face of Fenrir Greyback.

Greyback groaned but didn't wake up.

"Oh, now we can't have that," Laura said in disappointment as she shook her head and then reached forward putting her hand on his shoulder next to his neck, and then deliberately dug her thumb into the muscle of the collarbone.

The reaction was instantaneous. Greyback arched and let out a half growl half cry of pain, his arms flailing wildly as he sat up, instantly awake. Laura had held the grip for several seconds as he woke and jolted before hopping backward out of range of his flailing arms.

Greyback looked around at his surroundings rapidly, trying to get his bearings, "Wha? Where?" He rolled quickly into a crouch.

"Huh. So they do possess some form of limited regeneration, otherwise his legs would have been useless from where I hit him," Laura mused out loud.

Greyback's gaze flicked to her at the other end of his cell but then out on the people staring in at him. His eyes focusing quickly on Moody standing most prominently on the other side of the bars.

"Dumbledore's lot," the werewolf-turned-human spat in disgust. "I should have known. Long time no see, Moody."

Moody glanced over at Laura but didn't say anything, standing out of arm's reach from the werewolf.

Fenrir turned and glanced over at Laura and then back "What? Is this little girl here a present from Dumbledore to convince me to turn over on the boss?"

There was a tap on his shoulder. Fenrir turned his head and then his head was rocked back by the force of a truck mashing into his nose.

Fenrir staggered backward against the far wall hard, "What the fuck…?"

Laura stood there not saying anything, with nothing but an amused smile on her face.

Greyback tentatively reached up and touched his bleeding nose, winced slightly and then snarled at Laura, "You broke my nose!"

"Uh huh!" She smiled brightly and nodded earnestly, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

With a snarl of rage he threw himself at her in a full body tackle.

She stepped to the side and ducked under his outstretched arm, slapping him on the back to add a bit of momentum and send him sprawling to the ground.

"Now now, none of that. We have some questions for y-" Laura remonstrated gently only to be interrupted.

"Like hell bitch. You're dead!" This time Fenrir came in slower and swung his fist toward her face.

Once more Laura swayed backwards slightly, but caught the wrist just as his fist passed where her face would have been a moment before. "You don't remember who I am, do you Mr. Greyback?"

The staccato sound of multiple bones popping and snapping was suddenly heard, along with a grunt of pain from Fenrir as Laura twisted the wrist in her hand. She didn't finish there, she continued twisting the fist and used it to throw him back against the far wall, before returning to her unconcerned pose.

"Well, I guess I can't say that's much of a surprise considering you may not have seen much of me earlier," she mused thoughtfully to herself.

"It doesn't matter, you're fucking dead," he growled as he briefly cradled his broken wrist before turning on her once more. This time he stomped forward reaching for her rather than swinging at her.

Just before this assault connected, she _blurred_ grabbing the other uninjured wrist. A quick twist and spin had the larger man spun around. Greyback's arm was forced behind his back for only a split second before it was suddenly wrenched upward while the tiny slip of a girl kicked the back of one of his knees negligently, bringing the increasingly irate man down to the cell floor. There was the distinct sound of popping as the man fell due to his shoulder violently dislocating, which finally brought more than a muffled groan of pain, as Greyback suddenly began to howl in agony.

There was a second crack and a second scream of pain as her foot stomped down on the back of his ankle, causing him to jerk, which just caused more pain from his shoulder and another cry of pain. He scrambled and tried to push back against the prison bars in front of him.

She wrenched his shoulder higher causing him to yelp and using her leverage to pin him firmly in place, his face pressed between two of the bars.

He continued to squirm and shift trying to get a way to push off the bars, but with one wrist broken her body holding his dislocated arm captive and a foot on the back of one of his legs keeping it pinned, he was well and truly stuck.

Laura's expression was almost bored as he panted in exertion from the pain as she kept just the right amount of leverage on his arm.

"Now, like I said, I'm not surprised you don't remember me," Laura continued in that calm and childishly amused voice, showing no hint of effort the effort it required to keep him held.

"But certainly you remember my brother from your fight less than a few hours ago," she reached up with her free hand into his dirty blond hair and jerked his head up and tilted it slightly to aim it at Harry.

Harry didn't say anything, he held up his hand and with a _snikt_ , his claws popped out.

Fenrir's eyes widened and he snarled, "You killed my pack."

"Yes, he did." Laura continued, "Well, not all of them. There were a few that came after me. I was the one who put down those particular dogs."

Fenrir snarled again only to break off into a whimper as she pushed up on his arm once more, making another sickening pop of joints that were never meant to move in that direction..

"Now we have questions," she said calmly, almost conversationally. It was a tone of voice completely at odds with the sheer violence and speed of her movements.

"Many questions," she continued. "And you're going to answer every one of them. If you think of lying, or holding back information… I'll know. When I do catch you, I'm sure I don't have to explain what happens then do I?"

She pushed up slowly on his arm.

Fenrir started to growl his defiance, something that turned into a whimper and when the pressure just increased, he finally shouted "Fuckin' hell, stop! What is it you bloody want?"

Laura shifted and threw him across the room into the chair.

Her stance shifted again to look calm, "Like I said, we have some questions for you about your... master and some of your friends."

She released the claws on both of her hands and with that same calm smile on her face, slowly began to move closer to him.

"Who are you? You're not one of Dumbledore's!" he shouted, staring at the two gleaming blades protruding from each of her hands like the devil himself was approaching him.

All other people in the room were forgotten as his eyes fixed on the second pair of demonic metallic blades he had seen that night. For the first time true fear appeared on Greyback's face as he stared at the girl approaching him with that same eerie smile on her face.

"No, no we're not," she smiled wider as she moved forward. "Unfortunately, for you that is, as I told you before. _I'm_ the one who is going to be asking questions."

Fenrir flinched before he seemed to gather his courage and his defiance returned to him, as he glared up at her. "What do you think I'm going to tell you?"

"Everything, Mr. Greyback," The smile finally fell off of Laura's face and an intense and far more sinister look replaced it, "You're going to tell us... _everything._ "

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

Laura stepped through the bars as Moody vanished them.

Behind her, slumped in a chair Fenrir Greyback was slumped and twitching and spasming from time to time. He was covered in blood from injuries over most of his body. Blood ran down one side of his face from the ruins of his left eye. More than one of his teeth were lying in splashes of blood on the ground.

She looked at Harry who nodded slightly, though his expression was filled with concern. "You okay?"

"Yes," she answered, before looking at Charlie Weasley, who had an odd expression on his face. "He's all yours now."

She glanced down at herself, her body and outfit covered in splashes of blood, though it was hard to tell on the black outfit. She looked up at Moody, "Does this place have running water? I need a shower. So does he, and she could clean up too." She gestured first at Harry then at Sarah specifically her hands and arms where Sarah had initially examined Harry.

Moody who had a grim expression on his face seemed to shake himself before he nodded, "Yes, of course. Delacour, could you lead them to get cleaned up?" He asked the blonde who had watched without saying anything, though more than once she had flinched and turned away during the interrogation.

"Oui, I can do that." she said after a few moment's hesitation, taking a moment to realize he was talking to her. She shifted and headed to the door.

Both Laura and Harry made no move to follow her, and instead looked to Sarah. She glanced at the werewolf who occasionally let out a moan from his chair but otherwise seemed completely insensate.

She straightened and nodded, "You're right, I could use to wash up at least."

"When you are done, would you join us in the headmaster's office? I'd… like to talk a bit. And I imagine Albus would as well." Moody spoke, addressing Harry as much as anyone, it wasn't so much a question as it was a request.

Harry nodded after a moment before following the others out the door, grabbing up the spare bag Laura had brought with her headed to wash up from the evening's events.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

Harry, Laura and Sarah once more all followed Fleur through the halls of the castle. This time from the bathroom they had been directed to use, now being lead toward the headmaster's office.

The younger of the two were clad in jeans and matching grey hoodies, while Sarah was wearing black slacks and had changed her blouse for one not stained in blood.

All three were looking around as they walked through the halls of the castle, darting between movement on the portraits as they were followed, and different people of all different ages who walked through the halls.

They were lead to the end of a hallway and up a spiral staircase, and found themselves inside the exceptionally large office of the headmaster.

All three of them were looking around curiously, assessing their surroundings. On the wall were portraits of people who looked down on the group. One wall had a large map of Europe In different colors. All three noted that the lines drawn up were not the same lines as those of countries.

Sitting behind a large desk sat Albus Dumbledore

Also in attendance was Moody, who had his arms crossed leaning against a pillar. "Thank you Miss Delacour," Dumbledore said, a slight tone of dismissal in his voice.

Fleur hesitated and then shook her head slightly, shifting into the room to the side. She wasn't willing to leave the headmaster after what she had seen. She knew the people were dangerous, vividly recalling the claws that had been at her throat, as much as her observation of the interrogation.

Dumbledore's brows lifted as she settled against the wall, but he didn't press the issue, instead the door behind them closed with a wave of his hand, as his focus shifted to the group of the three in front of him.

"You have questions." Sarah was the first to speak, as her two children flanked her. It was unspoken between them but they had let her take the lead.

"Many questions." Dumbledore answered grimly. "The chief among them is who are you?"

Before any of them could say anything Dumbledore had continued, "I believe I am fairly accurate in saying you, Madam are not a mediwitch. Given several of your reactions I observed, and ones Moody also noted in the past few hours, I guess that you're a muggle Doctor."

His gaze moved and flicked back and forth to either side of her, "You two present far more of a conundrum."

"You move like nothing I've ever seen before. You are as cautious of your surroundings as Alastor. According to Alastor, a man not known for being gentle with dark wizards, you interrogated a man in a manner that I can only describe as brutal."

"But effective." Alastor interjected, his tone defensive of their actions but his eyes were focused on the group. "And not something one simply comes up with out of the blue. Someone taught you exactly how to do what you did. It was brutal, yes... but there was a very clear method utilized."

Dumbledore didn't even acknowledge the comment. "I would say you were soldiers but for your ages. I cannot even begin to explain the knives in your hands, or how you were able to fight werewolves with such ease."

"Finally, given the physical resemblance, I would venture a familial relationship. Given that he addressed her as his sister, I would not be speculating wildly to say siblings," Dumbledore pointed at Harry then Laura in turn before his eyes focused on Sarah's, "And the concern you expressed, I would guess parent."

Dumbledore shook his head slightly, his tone turning unidentifiable, "But I cannot fathom anyone who considers themselves a parent that would allow the two children their age to take the actions they took tonight."

Both Harry and Laura growled and moved to step forward but Sarah's hand reaching out and grabbing each of their arms stopped them and had them moving back to their flanking positions without argument.

"You are correct, I'm a doctor." She met his eyes and then looked over towards Moody, "A muggle doctor without an ounce of your magic inside of me to the best of my knowledge."

Dumbledore nodded, it wasn't exactly unheard of. While the wards around Hogwarts were set up to prevent muggles from seeing it, once they were in past a certain point they no longer prevented them. Given the state of the magical world, there were many squibs and muggles currently housed within Hogwarts. Muggles because they had a son or daughter who displayed magical potential. And they were not safe outside any longer. And Fawkes certainly had brought her far enough in.

His thoughts were interrupted as Sarah continued, her features hardening, "And while you have no idea how hard it was to watch my children do the things they do, if the only reason you called us up here was to berate my choices as a parent, then we'll just leave and get back to trying to finish this war of yours ourselves."

Dumbledore regarded them for several seconds before he shook his head, realizing he wasn't going to get any more from that approach changed tacks, "Why did you decide to oppose Voldemort?"

"You don't think he needs opposed?" Sarah countered.

"I don't believe that has ever been in question." A briefly offended look crossed Dumbledore's expression, "I merely mentioned that there are few bastions against Voldemort's domination left in our world. Ourselves, Durmstrang, Alexandretta. While we've become villages under powerful wards more than schools… Most magicals who aren't in one of those sanctuaries have fled across the sea in hope of safe havens there."

"Our opposition was _personal_ ," said Sarah after a few moments, but there was no forthcoming details given.

"Personal in what way?" Dumbledore asked, and then held up his hand, "I do not mean to pry, but risking your children's lives for vengeance means it must be a powerful motivator."

"The motivation isn't hers. It's mine," Harry snapped in irritation stepping forward slightly. He didn't like the implication from the old wizard that it was Sarah who was risking them. "We're here to finish what _he_ started."

"What he started?" Moody echoed, his tone questioning.

Harry met Moody's one eye as his jaw clenched for several seconds. "The bastard killed my biological parents, and tried to kill me when I was a baby. So yes, he started it."

Sarah's hand on his arm stopped his rant but Dumbledore was staring at him in astonishment.

"It's not possible..." His voice came out in a strangled tone, disbelief there as his eyes took in the boy's features flicking up to his forehead where Harry's wild hair covered most of his forehead, though he _thought_ he could make out a faint edge of a scar there. "H...Harry? Harry Potter?"

Moody's false eye spun round as he stared at the group in front of them. Despite Moody's years of training and his own paranoia at letting out too much, even he couldn't prevent the start that he experienced at hearing the name.

The portraits behind the headmaster exploded in a flurry of motions as all the former headmaster's shifted and moved in their frames.

"The… Boy Who Lived? But… when 'e did not show up for 'ogwarts the papers said 'e was dead for years! That 'e did not survive that night!" gasped Fleur from behind the group, her tone one of complete disbelief

"We never knew what happened to Harry," said Dumbledore, for once his composure completely shattered as he lurched to his feet. He moved around the desk and stopped a few feet in front of the dark haired teen who stared back at him.

He slowly reached up with a trembling hand but he stopped before he touched Harry's forehead. "May I?" He asked softly.

Harry glanced to the side toward his mother before he shook his head slightly in the negative, but he did reach up and deliberately brush his hair to the side enough for Dumbledore to see the faded lightning bolt scar there. The only scar on his body and the one his healing factor never managed to erase.

Dumbledore stepped back as if struck, "It… it is you. I haven't seen you since I dropped you off at your relatives' house when you were no more than an infant, almost sixteen years ago…"

That had clearly been the wrong thing to say as all three reacted, narrowing their eyes while Harry actually growled, blades instantly coming out of his hands. "So you're the one who was responsible for dropping me off with those… people."

"They were your last surviving family." Dumbledore said quietly.

"That 'family' you abandoned him with, sold him for twenty thousand pounds when he was five." Laura snapped in disgust, having heard the full details of where they had found him initially.

Dumbledore flinched, stepping back and looked down. "When you didn't show up for Hogwarts at age 11, we tracked down your family. Your uncle died in a car accident several years earlier, and your aunt and cousin had no idea where your uncle had sent you. He had told them that you had been picked up by people who could teach people like you. She thought he had meant us."

"For someone you conducted a 'long search' for, it's odd that you didn't even notice him missing for nearly seven years In the first place." Sarah snorted in disgust. "That tells me Harry's well-being was never one of your concerns, just that he was out of sight for you to continue conducting your business until you needed him for something."

"We expended innumerable resources attempting to find him when we found out he had disappeared." Dumbledore said defensively. "It was a crushing blow to lose him. He was a symbol to our people…"

"So we've heard." Sarah said dryly. "You still didn't deny that you misplaced your asset and didn't care until you needed it."

Dumbledore lifted his head and looked at her sharply in surprise.

It was Harry that answered, "We've had a couple conversations with the goblins since I returned. They were most helpful. Once I gave them my blood to verify who I was, they were only too happy to tell me all sorts of things. Including the story of the Boy-Who-Lived."

"And Died." added Laura helpfully.

Dumbledore sighed managing to slump a little bit further, "Without Harry, without you, the Dark had that much of a greater hold upon our people, and Voldemort had a much easier time when he returned."

When none of the three said anything, he lifted his head to look back. "Will you tell me what happened to you?"

Harry looked to his Mom who met his eyes, clearly letting him know the decision was up to him. Harry looked back to Dumbledore, "The people that the fat bastard sold me to. Took me away to a facility in order to experiment on me."

"Experiment?" demanded Moody who thumped forward several paces, "Someone's experimenting on wizards?"

Dumbledore looked equally horrified.

"To be fair the people there had no idea he was magical," Sarah explained clinically, "It was believed that Harry had the X-gene, that he was a mutant and his ability to heal the repeated mortal wounds he received from his Uncle as a child as well as reports of him able to leap to the top of a building when he was being chased by bullies was a form of mutation."

Dumbledore looked at her sharply, "And that makes experimenting on children okay?"

"I didn't say that it did," Sarah replied, though she flinched slightly.

"I was taken to be experimented on," Harry continued, louder so that everyone focused upon him and not Sarah. "At the same place those experiments took place they were also experimenting on Laura."

After a few moments silence, Laura spoke up, "My creators gave me the name X-23 when I managed to survive to birth."

Harry, taking his cue from her response, "And I was given the amazing name 'Spare' by those same people. So that with all the experiments they wanted to perform upon 23, they had a convenient 'Spare' guinea pig for them to try the untested and more dangerous experiments on first."

The pair of responses froze both Moody and Dumbledore for several seconds before Dumbledore asked, "For what purpose? What were they doing?"

It was Moody who answered, catching them all off guard. "They were creating weapons."

That caused Sarah to flinch though Harry and Laura took it stoically.

"More specifically, they wished to recreate a mutant bloodline belonging to a mutant who, on top of enhanced strength, speed, and senses that all are superhuman and in and of themselves would make a remarkable asset, also possesses other attributes." Sarah explained, her voice with a detached and clinical tone, "Chief among those, the ability to regenerate that essentially makes him damn near impossible to kill."

Harry picked up the explanation gestured at Laura, "She was created from a sample of the target's DNA, and cloned."

When he saw the blank looks on their faces, he explained, "They essentially took his blood and generated an embryo and implanted her into a womb to grow her."

"I on the other hand, was purchased from my so-called relatives, then given gene therapy to essentially meld her DNA to my own in order to gain the same mutations." When the three wizards in the room turned to look at him, he shrugged, "Like I said, they hoped to test any procedures out on me before using them on her."

"Does that include the knives from your hand?" Fleur spoke up, her voice soft. When everyone turned to her, she straightened but kept her gaze on Harry.

"Sort of…" Harry hedged, "That explanation is a bit more complicated. It was a mixture of the mutations and further experiments."

Dumbledore was leaning on his desk from the shocks that had come his way in the past twenty minutes of conversation. He had wanted Moody up there because while Dumbledore had a mind for strategy, Moody's was better and unlike Dumbledore he had been trained as a soldier. He had not objected to Fleur staying because he had hoped to convince the group to let her look at the young man and do a medical scan. He had never imagined the young man would be Harry Potter.

The visible resemblance was startling but he hadn't been looking for it, too much focused on Sarah being a muggle, and just what the two had done that night.

"That just leaves one question." Moody interjected, interrupting Dumbledore's thoughts. His eyes focused on Sarah, "How do you fit into this?"

Sarah hesitated and then squared her shoulders, her eyes looking at Moody's unflinchingly. "Me? I was one of the ones conducting the experiments."

Moody's eye widened then narrowed, but everyone's attention was drawn as there was a loud _crack_ in the room.

Dumbledore's desk had split in two and he had straightened up, his eyes flashing in anger, magic swirling around him visible as his glare was fixed on her.

There was the simultaneous _snikt_ sound of claws emerging from both Harry and Laura's hands in response.

"You _dare_?!" His voice wasn't a shout, but it was harsh and filled with power. "You experiment on children, use them and stand there admitting it?"

It was only Sarah's outspread arms that kept Harry and Laura from leaping at the old man. Who glared down at her, bathed in power that even as a muggle she was able to feel. She didn't cower back, instead meeting his gaze unflinchingly.

"Yes. I experimented on two children one of them my own daughter. I let others experiment on them and rob them of their childhood. I was there the entire time and I will have to live with that for the rest of my life." Sarah said, her own voice filled with emotion as her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't flinch back. "But I was also there to watch it all. I saw most of the pain and hurt they endured firsthand. I read to them. I did my best to comfort them and teach them morals despite the machines the company hoped to forge them into. All the way up to the point where they tried to get my own child to kill me to complete their weapon."

There were tears leaking from her eyes despite her best efforts to blink them back.

"That does not make it right!" Dumbledore responded.

"Nothing will make it right!" Sarah half shouted up at the older man before she broke down, "I can only spend my life trying."

She was pulled back into a hug by Harry, where she openly cried into his chest and Laura was there a moment later wrapping her arms around them both. Both Laura and Harry looked up at Dumbledore angrily. It was Harry that spoke.

"Mom doesn't have to answer to you." Harry snapped, shifting his arm, claws still out in front of them almost defensively.

"She is not your mother!" Dumbledore responded in a tone of equal anger, "Lily Potter was your mother. The same Dark Lord that threatens us even now, tried to kill you and she sacrificed everything to protect you!"

"After which I apparently was promptly dumped with magic hating relatives who _sold_ me by _you and then forgotten for an entire fucking decade!_ " Harry roared back, unaware that magic seemed to spark from him as well.

His response caused Dumbledore to flinch.

"Mom sat by our bedsides almost every night, reading to us. Hiding children's stories in books like the Art of War. Comforting us as best she could after every experiment. Every injury, every brutal training session. Every hurt inflicted on us." Harry's voice was no less powerful and angry than Dumbledore's had been, and there was also magic building around the group of three, unlike Dumbledore it was more chaotic and seemed to surge and jolt unevenly.

"When even moving was agony after something we had done or something done to us, she was there. The first time we killed. She was there and comforted us. The first time our lives were at risk. She was there." Harry gestured, his fist still clenched and angry.

Laura spoke up, not seeming to be bothered at all by the magic sparking around them, and picking up the thread immediately when Harry paused for breath, "When someone finally found a means for us to be free of there… who was it that did so? Yes, her. Even though it nearly cost her life."

There was a pause, and while the swirling just intensified around Harry and his voice was sharp, "Where the fuck were you when all that was happening?"

Before Dumbledore could respond Harry continued relentlessly, "Where were you before I was taken away? Where were you when my relatives broke my arm or hit me in the head with a frying pan? Where were you when I was called freak and thrown into a cupboard with nothing to eat for days? Where the fuck were you when I was sold like I was nothing but an object?" Bolts of magic shot out in random arcs though all in the general direction of Dumbledore, with each question.

Each accusation caused Dumbledore to flinch, each accusation causing his magic to flicker and finally die, though Harry's continued.

"It was _six years_ before you apparently even knew I was gone. _Six years_ she spent comforting us. So no. You don't get to stand there and judge her. Only two people have that right." His voice had dropped, and his own magic slowly stopped whirling visibly, though his eyes still glowed green and his final words were no less firm, "And we both judged and decided that we forgive her."

"She is our Mother, and we are family." added Laura from where she still held on to Sarah who hadn't intended for all that to come out certainly not here in front of other people. It had been the elephant in the room that she hadn't talked to her kids about.

Harry would have suggested they leave, but his mom was currently squeezing too tightly for movement to be simple.

Dumbledore had flinched back and as Harry had unloaded and after silence had descended, and lingered for over a minute before he finally spoke again.

"Madam, you have my apologies. I… spoke without considering my words," he looked down at his hands, his expression clearly showing that he was at a loss. "I was surprised and caught off guard by what you said, and part of it was my own fault at how much I truly and utterly failed the son of two of my favorite students."

Harry looked down at Sarah who was calming down, enough to manage to nod tearfully. Dumbledore held out a handkerchief offering it to Harry who took it after a few moments and handed it to his mother. It was several minutes later, when Sarah had calmed down and composed herself, though Laura had not detached herself from the woman's side.

Dumbledore had moved back to sit behind the desk, taking a moment to repair the desk which had snapped from his magic, while also giving the group some space. It was he who broke the silence.

"I know it has been a long night. And we have some quarters where you can rest, as I'm certain you are tired too. I do have many questions that I would like to discuss with you at a later time…" He trailed off expectantly, until he got a nod from Harry before continuing. "However I would like to talk about two more things before we break off."

All three looked at him attentively, if cautiously.

"First, I was hoping you would consent to having our healer's give you both an examination." Dumbledore held up his hands defensively, cutting off your protests, "Your… Mother can be in attendance as it is done, and I promise you it is both non-invasive and can be stopped anytime you give the word."

"My primary concern lies in the fact that you received multiple werewolf bites tonight. While rare, some do not take to the change, and die before the following dawn." Dumbledore explained, "You will also need to learn how to deal with your new situation each month."

"As I told you given their mutations, how their bodies heal injuries and sickness, the virus won't spread in their systems, I already ran tests to be sure." Sarah said, hiccupping once from the crying she had done, though her voice was surprisingly strong. "Harry will not be infected."

"Then, let us be sure?" Dumbledore offered, not wanting to press his disbelief or uncertainty, "As Miss Delacour can attest, we'd just be making sure they were okay and you have her there the entire time if you like."

"Oui," Fleur said, speaking up from where she stood beside Moody, "Given what you 'ave said, we may need to confer with your mother and see just how you have been impacted. I promise that I will make sure anything myself or Madam Pomphrey do will stop on your word."

"It might help, if I am there, I might learn something or at least be able to explain anything they find that they don't understand." Sarah said quietly, once more making it clear that the decision was up to her children. Her agreement caused both of them to look at her and then nod their heads simultaneously.

"What was the second thing?" Harry asked, not letting the topic linger.

"The second thing was about some of the things Moody informed me that Laura asked Fenrir Greyback during her interrogation of him." Dumbledore answered.

"Which part?" Laura inquired carefully.

"You pumped him for any information on Voldemort which is understandable, but then focused on three specific Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy, Regulus Black and Rodrick Bulstrode." Moody spoke up his magical eye spinning around once before focusing on Laura.

"What's curious about that is, while Lucius Malfoy is very much a problem, one of the Dark Lord's right hand men. The other two Death Eaters are known to be dead. One for almost twenty years, and the other for almost four." Dumbledore leaned forward, his expression searching, "My question is why you were asking questions about them and any bolt holes or hideaways they might have had?"

Harry exchanged a look with Laura and then Sarah, before turning back to Dumbledore. "Do you trust the people in this room?"

Dumbledore flicked a glance at Moody and then Fleur, "Everyone in this room, with the exception of yourselves, I have known for several years and would absolutely trust with my life and indeed have done so on more than one occasion."

Harry nodded slowly, "Very well. We're looking for items. They are necessary to ensure that the next time the bastard who killed my parents dies, he'll be dead for good."

"What kind of items are we talking about here?" Moody asked, his eye narrowed while Dumbledore looked lost in thought.

Harry glanced back at the grizzled ex-auror. "Each one is different. We're looking for three pieces left. Two of them were valuable pieces of your history. One of which is a headpiece owned by Rowena Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw's Diadem has been lost for centuries, and you hope to find it?" Dumbledore asked, his tone absent.

"No, it hasn't. It was found fifty some years ago, by Tom Riddle… and I have reason to believe it's in the castle at this moment. It just needs retrieved." Harry ran a hand through his hair, "That's assuming no one else has discovered it, and I have a hard time thinking anyone has."

"We can go see if I'm correct after this discussion," Harry offered.

"Yes please," Dumbledore nodded firmly his expression one of consideration, wondering exactly where they got the information but not willing to press the matter here at least not until he determined the veracity of the statements. "What was the second item?"

"The second item of historical significance was a locket owned by Salazar Slytherin." Harry answered.

"Do you know where it is?" Dumbledore asked, a sort of eagerness at the discussion. His face fell when Harry shook his head.

"We know where it _was_. Unfortunately, it was stolen by someone with the initials RAB." Harry answered.

"How do you know that?" Dumbledore inquired.

"He left a note taunting the Dark Lord, and signed his initials." Harry answered with a smirk.

Moody let out a low whistle at that, "Someone taunting the Dark Lord is not just asking for death, but a slow death."

"Now with the help of the Goblins we checked every possible person who may have known or interacted with the Dark Lord personally enough to have discovered one of his most closely guarded secrets." Harry explained, with a glance over at Laura.

She took up the conversation, "Between us, we came up with two possibilities. Regulus Arcturus Black and Rodrick Argonotius Bulstrode."

Harry shook his head, "We have our suspicions that it was the former rather than the latter, but we can't be certain."

Dumbledore nodded, stroking his beard, "Bulstrode was an ardent believer in Voldemort until his death to the best of my knowledge. So I am inclined to agree." Dumbledore mused, "As to Regulus, he was a youth when he died, but his brother …"

He trailed off as his eyes widened slightly.

Moody spoke up, reading his mind, "Aye, we have to tell Black about Potter anyway."

When Harry turned to look at him, Moody explained slightly, "Sirius Black, he was-"

"Thought to have betrayed my parents, and was imprisoned." Harry cut him off, "I know, the Goblins were quite informative."

"He may have a lead for us." Dumbledore summed up, drawing the conversation back. "Those are two pieces, what about the third?"

"Ah, well. The third is not a piece of history, at least not one recognized as such. It was a diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle from when he was a teenager." Harry's eyes sharpened on Dumbledore noting that he had gone completely still. Harry continued slowly. "He left it in the care of Lucius Malfoy."

Dumbledore sat very still for several long moments, stretching out to almost a minute before he quietly moved, opening a drawer of his desk and with great care removing a book and setting it on top of his desk. "It's quite a dark artifact. With compulsions that try and get you to write in it."

There was a brief pause before Harry surged forward, far too fast for any of the magic users in the room to so much as blink.

 _Snikt._

His claws were out and he had slammed them into the book faster than any of them could react.

There was a brief pause where Dumbledore started to react, "Wha-"

Cutting him off the book seemed to shake and then explode with green energy and there was a horrible screech of impotent fury, while the book itself seem to burst out spurts of dark black ink. The scream echoed around for almost a minute before finally dying out.

There was once more a pause.

"What…was that?" demanded Dumbledore, his wand in his hand.

With a jerk of his arm, Harry pulled his claws out of the diary, and the desk as well. For the first time that night, a genuine smile on his face, "That… was clearly one of the items we were searching for."

"Yes, I quite understand that. But what exactly was it?' Dumbledore responded even as he waved his wand, casting diagnostics on the book and ink which now sat unmoving on his desk.

"It was something the goblins referred to as a phylactery. It is also known as a Horcrux, at least that's how Tom Riddle knew it." Harry explained.

Dumbledore paled and froze before he slumped back into his chair. "I cannot comprehend… to have fallen so far… To have feared death so much as to stoop to creating one of those vile objects."

"Not one," Harry corrected. "One of many."

"How many?' Dumbledore asked with a sick disgust in his voice. He wanted to deny it, he wanted to doubt what he had just been told, but… he couldn't.

"He planned seven. He created six before his fall the first time." Harry answered.

"How do you know this?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes fixed on Harry's.

"Because he only created five of them intentionally." Harry answered, tapping his forehead, where his scar was. ""When my parents died for me that night his soul was so unstable a piece of him got lodged in my scar. When I… died in an explosion and came back, the piece inside of me was destroyed as well, but I got the front row seat to re-live Tom's life."

"And that's why you know what you know…" Dumbledore mused slowly as he put the pieces together.

"Now, it's been a long night for us. Would you like to go with us to destroy another piece of Voldemort hidden in your castle before we find some place to crash?" Harry asked with a wide smirk on his face.

 **OoooooooooOoooooooooO**

 **Author's notes:**

 **HOLY CRAP! Another story! And two chapters of it! O_O**

 **1)I know right? My muse with the attention span of a goldfish. I blame her. Totally her fault. I had this idea come to me and it wouldn't leave me alone. It came when I saw a picture of Sarah Kinney on google and noticed how striking the dark hair and green eyes was, and thought "that would be an amazing older female Harry!" From there I went through ideas of her being related, and discarded that. And finally settled on what it's become.**

 **I will also confess that I'm getting this story out there because I figure that in a few months we'll see the Wolverine movie come out and then a lot of crossovers (especially crappeh ones) will pop up with Laura in some form or fashion, or with female harry in laura's place.**

 **This is definitely for those who are comic fans who would have noticed that I pulled pretty heavily from the COMIC source material where X-23 was created.**

 **2) I always felt so bad for Laura. SO this is me making some adjustments there, allowing her mom to live.**

 **3)Answers to some likely FAQ's:**

 **Where are we going with this story?: Well, the plan at the moment is that they won't stay overly long in HP world. Two to Four more chapters maybe. Then out into the larger Marvel world, possibly to Xavier's. But honestly? Beyond HP universe we haven't the faintest clue. Making it up as we go along! And as always, it's subject to change.**

 **Why didn't Harry use Insert magic ability here? He got Voldemort's memories. But it was like reading a book. Think he should still be awesome? Read a book on the life of a gymnast. Does that mean you're ready to go out and do a floor routine? Not so much no. Anything more you'll have to wait to find out**

 **What are pairings?!: It's going to be an HP/Daphne/Ginny/Hermione/Fleur/Tonks/Padma/Parvati/Gabrielle/Susan/Hannah/Fem-Dudley/Fem-Dobby/Fe-ow ow ow! Stop it! *fends off smacks* Sorry I couldn't resist.**

 **No. I jest. (duh). I don't have any pairings set in concrete.**

 **A: Harry and Laura will not pair up. They have a sibling relationship, it may be an extremely close one given all they've been through, but not in any way a sexual one.**

 **B: We are not taking a ton of Harry Potter characters into the greater marvel universe, except for occasional cameos. There is only one for certain at this point**

 **C:I can say for certain, Harry will not be paired with Hermione or Ginny. Neither of which will be focused on much (if they appear at all) in this story.**

 **4) Plums Persuasive Ponderings:**

 **I'm along for the ride on this one, kinda like the "Invincible" story. I've never been a big comic fan, so the plot is pretty much all Kat on this one.**

 **5) Speaking of, I will be looking for a Marvel expert! O_O After we clear HP verse. If you're interested, lemme know. But I always test bona fides!**

 **Alternate Chapter/Story Titles**

" **Vernon sells more than drills." - Harry**

" **How to** _ **really**_ **raise a Weapon!"- Harry**

"Yeah, Dumbledore, take some lessons!" - Zander Rice

"Oh, not this shit again," - Dumbledore

"Hey, we're not bashing you in the story, gotta do it somewhere!" - Authors

" **Let me introduce you to Mr. Stabby and his five brothers." - Harry**

" **Call me Spare." - Harry**

"Hey, that's my significance! I appear in the fourth book/movie for pretty much only that reason!" - Cedric

"Hush you. Go off and… I dunno. Sparkle in the sun or something." - Harry

" **Odds and Evens!" Laura**

"Better than rock paper scissors." - Harry

" **More weapons like Wolverine and loose canons to boot. Fuck my life." - Nick Fury.**

"I knew sleeping with half the women in the Marvel Universe would come back to bite me." - Logan.

"No, these aren't your real kids. They're created or genetic amalgamations." - Sarah Kinney

"Of me." - Logan

"Well… um. Yes." - Sarah

"Oh this should go well." - Logan

" **How to extract information, a tutorial." - Laura**

*whimpers*- Greyback

 **Edited 4/2/2018 to make minor changes.**


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